Police question parents of 2 victims of Harni boat tragedy for ‘disrupting' Gujarat CM's inauguration of development works
The two mothers, who disrupted the event, were later granted an audience with the Chief Minister after the function ended and were 'let off'.
Police detained the parents of Roshni Shinde and Vishwa Nizama — two of the 12 students who died in the boat capsize on January 18, 2024 — after the women refused to sit down when asked by the Chief Minister.
The incident took place while Patel was addressing the gathering during his visit to Vadodara to inspect the Vishwamitri River rejuvenation project and inaugurate VMC works worth Rs 1,156 crore.
Sarla Shinde and Sandhya Nizama stood up and said that 'no justice had been given to the families even after 450 days of the tragedy.'
From the dais, Patel requested the women to sit and meet him after the event.
The women claimed they had been denied a meeting with the CM since the day of the incident.
Responding, Patel said, 'It cannot be… Everyone is allowed to come to the CMO and make petitions. If you have come with a special agenda, this is not the way… remain seated, we will meet later.'
When the women continued speaking despite police trying to make them sit, Patel said, 'They are here with a special agenda, they need not be paid attention to.' They were then removed from the venue and detained until the event concluded, after which the CM met them.
Addressing the gathering, Patel said, 'Representations must be made in a civil manner… Every Monday, people are welcome to come to the CMO and make representations… When a programme is on, interrupting to make a petition is not befitting of civilised society. We must get out of this mindset…'
He added, 'Despite such incidents, the passion for people's development should not be broken. We are always working… I even say that news reports appearing in the media, if they are negative, must be checked because it is true that there could be lapses… We are willing to rectify our errors, verify media reports and work on the issues highlighted. I have already instructed everyone on this…'
Commissioner of Police Narasimha Komar said that the couples had not been formally detained after being whisked away, but a senior city police official said the two women and their husbands were questioned to 'ascertain their motive' for disrupting the CM's speech. The officer said, 'We conducted a simple inquiry into the incident to understand if they had arrived at the venue on their own or were provoked… They have not been booked under any charges and were let off after meeting the CM.'
However, Advocate Hitesh Gupta, who has been representing the 14 victims of the Harni boat tragedy in Vadodara, arrived at the Vadodara Crime Branch office, stating that the couples were in continued detention.
Gupta said, 'It is unfortunate and a mockery of justice that victims of a tragedy have been detained by the police to find out who provoked them to ask questions to the Chief Minister… We challenge them to come out in the public and engage in a dialogue with us, where we will put forth documents to show how there has been corruption in the Harni lake redevelopment that led to the tragedy. If we are proven wrong, we will apologise in public but if the government is proven wrong, they will have to tender unconditional apology to the people… When there is a public programme that is open to all, why can't victims be present at such a government event to raise questions?'
Kalpesh Nizama, father of Vishwa Nizama, said, 'What wrong did my wife do by raising questions about justice and the work of the government when the CM was speaking about how everything is in order under the Prime Ministership of Narendra Modi … Are we terrorists or criminals that the police dragged out both women, including my wife, and kept us under detention and watch, questioning our intention? We have lost our children, what justice has this government done? Not a single official of the VMC, who was responsible for allowing the illegal boat operations, has been booked. All the accused are out on bail… Do they understand the anguish with which we are living each day remembering our innocent children?'
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