Focus is on stopping recurrence of Sujith like events: Govt official

Chennai: The “real solution” in preventing the recurrence of another Sujith Wilson-like incident lies in the closure of all open borewells and right now this was the focus area, commissioner of revenue administration J. Radhakrishnan said.

Speaking to media persons in Chennai on Wednesday Radhakrishnan said the rescue operations were done ‘professionally’ but that the result was negative.  

“It is unfortunate that Sujith died and we are affected by his death. More than 600 experts from various fields involved in the rescue operation. It is not appropriate to criticise the workers engaged in operation”.

 The operation was conducted based on the suggestions of expert technical teams and Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service personnel, SDRF, NDRF, police and other experts. This was a coordinated effort. However, we were unable to rescue the child alive, Radhakrishnan said.

“We kept updating Sujith's parents about the operation regularly. We have used all the technology available in the country to save him. We opted for alternate operation strategy only after foul smell emanated from the borewell. Following this body was retrieved and post-mortem was conducted and efforts also taken to obtain his DNA sample,” he said. Reacting to question of retrieval of only some parts of Sujith's body, he said the State Government had followed Central Government guidelines relating to retrieval of bodies of persons who die during disaster. The central laid down the clear norms and guideline after charred bodies of children, who were killed in Kumbakonam fire tragedy, displayed in public. Even the Centre also opposed to public displaying bodies of soldiers died in war. In the event of displaying Sujith's corpse, some may go to court saying it was not his body, he said.
 
Talking about the time of death, he said “We will come to know the exact time of death only after investigation. Denying messages in social media about the expenditure incurred by the Government in the opera-tion, he said “so far government has not disclosed any information regarding expenditure”.

Meanwhile, police on Wednesday registered a case into the death of the toddler. Police said a case under IPC 174 (suspicious death) has been registered. The case was registered based on a complaint by the Village Administrative Officer.