By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Government on Monday evening suspended Datia collector Bhondve Sanket Shantaram and Superintendent of Police Chandrashekhar Solanki over Ratangarh temple stampede incident on the occasion of Dussehra festivities in Datia district on Sunday.
The death toll has now risen from 115 to 139 wherein mostly women and children perished in the stampede. The state government has also suspended SDM Revenue Sewdha Maheep Kishore Tejaswi and SDOP B.N. Basawe.
The state government has posted Director Skill Development, Jabalpur Raghuraj M.R. as Collector Datia and AIG PHQ Bhopal R.K Marathe as the Superintendent of Police, Datia. Additional Commissioner Gwalior Municipal Corporation M.L. Daultani has been posted as SDM Revenue Sewdha and M.P. Sharma, DSP EOW, Gwalior as SDOP Sewdha.
Meanwhile, relief operations are being carried out by local administration following the incident at Ratangarh on Sunday. Those injured in the accident in Datia district have been immediately admitted to three hospitals. Following post-mortem of the deceased in the accidents, arrangements have been made by local administration to send bodies to relatives in four districts each of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. More than 100 people were injured in the incident on the bridge over Sindh river near Ratangarh temple.
The BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Datia Hospital while had to skip a visit to the stampede site, as he did not get permission for it from the Election Commission. While Union Minister and Congress leader Jyotiraditya after visiting Datia demanded resignation of Madhya Pradesh chief minister.
According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) D K Arya injured pilgrims have been admitted in District Hospitals of Datia & Gwalior. In all 115 persons have been identified and their dead bodies have been handed over to their relatives.
It may be mentioned here that the state government had ordered a judicial inquiry in to the mishap, which was a shocking re-run of the tragedy at the same site in 2006 when over 56 pilgrims were washed away.