YSRCP MPMargani Bharat Ram seeks fresh probe

Rajamahendravaram: YSRCP MP Margani Bharat Ram and party city coordinator Routhu Suryaprakasa Rao has paid tributes to deceased in Godavari Maha Pushkaram-2015 stampede at Pushkar Ghat, which claimed 28 lives, here on Sunday. The incident occurred on July 14, the first day of Godavari Maha Pushkaram, in which as many as 28 pilgrims died.

After paying tributes, Margani Bharat Ram and Routhu Suryaprakasa Rao appealed to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to reprobe into the incident to bring facts before the people.

They alleged that former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu was responsible for the stampede and not even a case was registered against him in the police station and an eye wash, the government had appointed a commission, which gave a clean chit to Naidu. The duo asked the Chief Minister to bring facts about the incident before the people and book the responsible persons.

Andhra Pradesh Bar Council executive member Mupalla Subba Rao demanded the State government to order for an enquiry with a sitting High Court Judge to bring the facts into limelight and to do justice to the family members of the deceased pilgrims.

As per the rules, the government should keep the footage in closed circuit cameras for 72 hours, but the government deleted the footage to distort the facts, he said. He said the pilgrims were stopped nearly for two hours in the name of shooting a film to popularise former chief minister Naidu and after completion of shooting, the officials opened the gates which led to stampede.

Moreover, Chandrababu Naidu took bath at Pushkar Ghat instead of VIP Ghat which was also another reason for the stampede, he pointed out. Justice CY Somayajulu Commission acted as government agent and after two years, the Commission said stampede took place due to wide media publicity and heavy influx of pilgrims and closed the case, he averred.