Dussehra train tragedy: Six accused get anticipatory bail

AMRITSAR: A court in Amritsar on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to six of the seven accused, including former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s close aide Saurabh Madan alias Mithu Madan, in the 2018 Dussehra train tragedy case.

The special investigation team (SIT) of the Government Railway Police (GRP), formed to fix responsibility for the tragedy, had filed a chargesheet against seven organisers of the event before duty magistrate Harpreet Singh on June 6.

In the chargesheet, the SIT has named Dussehra committee office-bearers Mithu Madan, Rahul Kalyan, Deepak Kumar, Karan Bhandari, Kabal Singh, Deepak Gupta and Bhupinder Singh as accused under Sections 304-A, 337 and 338 of the Indian Penal Code.

Mithu is son of a Congress councilor.

All the accused, barring Rahul Kalyan, had filed for bail application. The matter was heard in the court of judicial magistrate (first class) Rajan Aneja.

“The charges were diluted in the chargesheet. Filing of the weak chargesheet has helped the accused secure the bail, said Verka,” said advocate Sarabjit Singh Verka of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO). The court has fixed the next date of the hearing on September 3.