IG’s report praises police action in Sabarimala

January 18, 2011 10:22 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 03:34 am IST - KOCHI:

UNWAVERING FAITH: Pilgrims wait on the fly-over at Sabarimala Sannidhanam for the holy darshan at the Ayyappa Temple on Tuesday morning.

UNWAVERING FAITH: Pilgrims wait on the fly-over at Sabarimala Sannidhanam for the holy darshan at the Ayyappa Temple on Tuesday morning.

The preliminary report on the Sabarimala tragedy that killed 102 pilgrims last week counters the allegation that there were not enough policemen on the spot to avert the tragedy.

The report, prepared by B. Sandhya, Inspector General of Police, Ernakulam Range, was handed over to Jacob Punnoose, Director General of Police and then to Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Minister for Home, on Monday. They had visited the accident spot on Monday.

The accident spot is situated inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve where not even wireless sets are not allowed so as not to disturb the wild animals. This made communication near impossible there.

The sighting of 'makaravilakku' was done by around 7.15 pm this year, almost an hour later than usual timing. By that time, darkness had fallen over the area.

Even then, the pilgrims started downhill trekking and this flow went on without any untoward incident for nearly an hour. The accident, believed to have triggered by a jeep and autorickshaw toppling, happened around 8.20 pm.

This was over in just about 4 minutes and more than 100 were killed by then. A detailed probe need to be made into what actually caused the accident, Ms. Sandhya told The Hindu .

“Even within the existing limitations, the force did a good job in bringing the situation under control and completing the evacuation by 2 a.m.”, she said. The policemen present at the accident site alerted higher officials immediately and they controlled the crowd effectively.

The State government has announced a judicial probe into the incident and Crime Branch Superintendent of Police S. Surendran has already initiated a probe.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.