Celebrations held near railway tracks in Malout

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, October 19

The celebration of Dasehra close to the railway tracks in Malout town has raised questions over the functioning of the district administration and police.

Luckily, no untoward incident was reported, but some eyewitnesses said effigies were burnt just about 250 m away from the railway tracks at the cremation ground known as Shivpuri and a large number of people had come after crossing the tracks.

However, Malout SDM Gopal Singh said, “The tracks were on a side and away from the celebrations. The local SP and DC had granted the permission, thus we made the arrangements.”

Malout MLA and Deputy Speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti was the chief guest at the event.

Meanwhile, in Muktsar, effigies were set afire by Deputy Commissioner MK Aravind Kumar and SSP Manjit Singh Dhesi.

There was lack of co-ordination among the organisers, said some people who had gone to attend the event.