Kollam: The judicial probe into the Puttingal disaster that claimed 110 lives and injured over 700 commenced on Friday, a year after the tragedy. Commission chairman Justice P.S. Gopinathan inspected the site, kicking off the inquiry. Meanwhile, the Commission that has an office in Kochi still lacks a local office that is convenient to execute the probe. “The notification to record statements will be issued within two weeks. The Commission will also investigate whether there was negligence by Government employees that led to the accident. The sabotage angle will also be considered if sufficient evidence is produced,” Mr. Gopinathan has said. It would also conduct sittings in Kollam to collect statements.
The Judicial probe into the tragedy was announced by the former Government on April 10 by appointing Retired justice N. Krishnan Nair to head the Commission. However, the former Government allegedly refused to give priority to initiate the judicial probe, by denying sufficient facilities to the Commission to function, in an apparent effort to save a Congress leader who was allegedly involved in getting permission to conduct the competitive fireworks there. Retired Justice N. Krishnan Nair later resigned “on personal grounds” in December 2016. The LDF Government in February 2017 appointed Justice P.S. Gopinathan to probe the tragedy and is holding an office in Kochi.
Even as the Crime Branch Police was about to submit its investigation report on the disaster in January 2017, the Kerala High Court had directed it to investigate the “extraneous influence” to get sanction to conduct the competitive fireworks at the temple. There are a total of 59 accused in the cases registered, out of which 7 persons died during the investigation. Competitive fireworks held during a temple festival at the Puttingal temple in Paravur had turned into a major disaster claiming 110 lives and injuring over 700 on April 10.
