4 children burnt alive as school van catches fire
LONGOWAL HORROR Victims in age group of 3-6; school owner, driver booked for murder
GOVT ACTION CM orders magisterial probe; ₹7.25 lakh ex gratia to each victim’s family
SANGRUR: Four students, a boy and three girls aged between 3 and 6, were burnt alive when an illegally run, old and ramshackle mini van of a private school caught fire at Longowal village, around 25km from Sangrur, on Saturday afternoon.
The Maruti Omni van was on way to drop 12 students of Simran Public School, Longowal, home when the incident occurred. The school holds classes up to Class 10 and is affiliated to Punjab School Education Board.
Of the four dead children, three were from an extended family. The victims were identified as Navjot Kaur (3), Simarjeet Singh (5), Kamalpreet Kaur (5) and Aradhiya (6), all of Pindi Amar Singh Wala village. There was no clarity what triggered the fire.
SCHOOL OWNER, DRIVER ARRESTED
Sangrur SSP Sandeep Garg said the owner-cum-principal of the school Lakhwinder Singh and driver Dalvir Singh have been arrested under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC. “Preliminary inquiry indicates that the van was in condemned condition and was being run illegally as per a report of the district transport officer (DTO). Action will be taken against officials for lapses, if any,” said deputy commissioner Ghanshyam Thori.
“We don’t know whether the school had necessary permissions and clearances. The van was bought from scrap,” said Karnail Singh, a local.
VAN WAS CARRYING 12 STUDENTS
As the rear of the vehicle caught fire, eight children were rescued to safety by the driver and a 13-year-old student, Amandeep Kaur, who was also in the van. The families of the rest four had a tough time identifying the bodies.
A large number of locals assembled at the mishap site and raised slogans against state government and school management, demanding arrest of the school owner and driver.
The protesters were also demanding ₹50-lakh compensation from the government to the family of each victim.
CM ORDERS PROBE
Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh ordered a magisterial inquiry and announced an ex gratia of ₹7.25 lakh to the kin of each victim. It was only after the CM’s announcement that the protest was called off.
LONGOWAL (SANGRUR): The Maruti Omni van that caught fire at Longowal village in Sangrur district on Saturday, resulting in the death of four children aged between three and six, was bought by the school management from a local scrap dealer.
The victims’ family members and local residents claimed that the van was used by Lakhwinder Singh, the owner of Simarjeet Public School, Longowal, for ferrying children for the first time after its purchase.
Also, state school education minister Vijay Inder Singla said the vehicle was not registered with the transport department. “Initial probe reveals that the vehicle was purchased from a scrap dealer and it was around 20 to 22 years old. We will not allow vehicles older than 15 years to ply,” said the minister.
Hundreds of people, including residents and members of farmer unions, held a protest and blocked the road where the incident took place in the afternoon.
They accused the Punjab government of promoting private schools without any check.
Jasvir Singh (30), father of one of the deceased, Navjot Kaur (3), said, “The van which killed my daughter and two kids from our extended family plied for the first time today. Earlier, an autorickshaw was being used for ferrying of kids, which was not safe either. Even the auto-rickshaw driver would blame the school owner for forcing him to overload children in his vehicle.”
“I am a poor farmer under ₹4 lakh debt. I spent ₹70, 000 on my daughter’s education. The school management forced us to pay for transport and would force us purchase books from the institution,” he said.
Balbir Chand Longowal, district president of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), said, “It is a total failure of our system that school vans are being run without any papers and clearance of the transport department. The government has not learnt any lesson from earlier incidents.”
“The government wants to fill this loss with a meagre compensation. The incident ruined four families. Though the victims’ families have agreed for postmortem of the bodies, the unions are not satisfied with ₹7.25 lakh compensation each. We demand ₹50 lakh for each victim,” said Bhupinder Singh Longowal, a farmer leader.
AAP’S MANN, ARORA JOIN PROTEST
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Punjab unit chief and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and Sunam MLA Aman Arora joined the protest accusing the state government of failed to stop such incidents in the state. Also, Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa reached the mishap site and condemned the incident.
“Private schools have turned education into a business. It is murder of four innocent children. I appeal to all local residents to form committees at village level to check transport and fee structure of private schools. No political leader should be included in these committees,” said Mann.
Dhindsa said, “The government should fix its transport system and adequate compensation should be given to the victims’ families.”
Minister Vijay Inder Singla, who tried to pacify the protesters, assured that justice will be done at any cost.