CM faces protests, suspends 4 officials

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the suspension of four officials from the education and transport departments in connection with the death of 13 children in an accident at an unmanned railway crossing in Kushinagar on Thursday.

Eight students were also injured, some of them grievously, in the incident.

The suspended officials are Kushinagar basic shiksha adhikari Hemant Rao, Dudhi block education officer Shesh Bahadur, assistant regional transport officer Raj Kishore Trivedi and transport officer Ranvir Singh, an official communiqué said.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister directed Anil Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Gorakhpur, to investigate the accident.

“I have submitted a report recommending action against errant officers and school management members to the state government,” Kumar said.

A senior government officer said the chief minister, taking cognisance of the divisional commissioner’s report, ordered strict action against the officials concerned.

Adityanath also ordered the registration of an FIR and initiation of legal action against Kareem Jahan Khan, the manager-cum-principal of the school, for running the institution illegally.

The chief minister additionally ordered an inquiry against the Seth Bansidhar School, which would allegedly issue transfer certificates to students enrolled at the school.

CM FACES PROTESTS

The chief minister faced angry protesters raising slogans against his government on Thursday, when he arrived at the site of the accident.

The protesters, who were blaming his government for the accident and demanding that unmanned crossings be done away with, did not pay heed to his appeals, following which, he left the spot saying “nautanki mat karo” (stop the drama). A group of lawyers also carried out a protest later.