Varanasi stampede: Govt suspends top officers for dereliction of duty

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday suspended Additional District Magistrate and City Magistrate of Varanasi on charges of dereliction of duty over the stampede incident there, which claimed 25 lives.

Additional District Magistrate (ADM), City Vindhyavasini Raj and City Magistrate B B Singh posted in Varanasi have been suspended for dereliction of duty, an official spokesman said here.

Varanasi Superintendent of Police City Sudhakar Yadav, SP Traffic Kamal Kishore, Kotwali Circle Officer Rahul Mishra, Station Officer of Ramnagar police station, Anil Kumar Singh and In-charge of Mughalsarai police station in Chandauli district and Sub-inspector Vinod Yadav were suspended on Saturday.

Twenty-five people lost their lives in the stampede incident which took place yesterday in Ramnagar police station area of Varanasi when thousands of followers of Jai Gurudev were crossing the Rajghat bridge for proceeding towards Domri village in Chandauli for a two-day congregation that concluded today under the shadow of gloom.

24 people died on Saturday while one succumbed this morning in a hospital. Of the deceased, 20 were women, police said.