Amritsar train tragedy victims cheated in death: SAD

The Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday said the Amritsar train tragedy victims had been "cheated even in death" with the cheques given to them starting to bounce and the state government not registering a case against the organizers 20 days after the accident.

Lambasting Local Government Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur for the "fake concern" shown by them over the plight of the victims, senior SAD leader Virsa Singh Valtoha said on Saturday that the "measly cheques" issued to families of victims had started bouncing.

"We condemn the inhuman treatment being meted out to victim families who are now suffering the agony of bounced compensation cheques," Valtoha claimed in a statement here.

Demanding an enhanced compensation of Rs 1 crore and a government job to each victim family, Valtoha said the Congress government should not discriminate against the victims only because they were poor.

He said it was shocking that no case had been registered even over 20 days after the accident in which 60 people died when a speeding train crushed people standing on railway tracks near Joda Phatak in Amritsar as they watched burning of Ravan effigy during Dusshera on Oct 19.

"If the Congress government and the Sidhu couple are to be believed, there is no one to blame (for the train tragedy). But the truth is that powerful people have got away despite indulging in criminal negligence," Valtoha pointed out.

He said it was clear that the "Sidhu couple had misused their power to suppress the truth and also protect the organizers of the event of which they were an intrinsic part".-IANS