2 days ago
N Goa ex-collector fails to reply to Shirgao stampede notice
Panaji:
Except for the North Goa collector at the time, Sneha Gitte, all other officers who were issued a show-cause notice in connection with the Shirgao Jatra stampede have filed their replies.
Six people were killed and 74 injured in the stampede.
Recently, Gitte was transferred from Goa to Arunachal Pradesh. Goa chief secretary V Candavelou told
TOI
, 'Due to some reasons, Gitte sought time to reply.'
On May 13, state govt issued show-cause notices to eight officials, including the district magistrate, North Goa SP, deputy collector of Bicholim, DySP of Bicholim, PIs of Bicholim and Mopa police stations, and panchayat secretary of Shirgao.
These officials were on duty during the tragedy and have been transferred since.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant, making the report of the fact-finding committee public, said the report collectively held the temple committee, district administration, district police, village panchayat, and crowd behaviour, particularly that of 'dhonds', responsible for the tragedy.
Based on the preliminary inquiry, govt transferred Gitte, then North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal, Bicholim DySP Jivba Dalvi, Bicholim PI Dinesh Gadekar, and Bicholim deputy collector Bhimnath Khorjuvekar, with immediate effect.
Three of the stampede victims — two women and a 16-year-old boy — were identified as 'dhonds', special devotees of the goddess. The stampede, perhaps the first in the post-Liberation history of Goa, occurred on the second day of the five-day jatra that began on May 3.
The Shree Devi Lairai Devasthan committee said the state administration fell short in making the necessary arrangements for the jatra.
