Stampede: Will probe issues raised by HC, says CM

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Monday said the issue of lack of coordination among government departments, raised by the Kerala high court in context of the Sabarimala stampede, will be brought within the ambit of the judicial probe into the tragedy.

"All these issues will be included in the ambit of judicial probe and the guilty will not be spared," he said when reporters sought his reaction to the strong observations made by the division bench of the high court.

In a suo moto reference, the division bench comprising justices Thottahthil Radhakrishnan and P S Gopinathan observed that there had been lack of coordination among various departments in arrangements to regulate the flow of pilgrims at Sabarimala.

The court also asked the police, the forest department and the Travancore Devaswom Board (which manages the shrine at Sabarimala) to submit a detailed report on the causes that led to the stampede by January 20.

The Kerala government had earlier announced its decision to conduct a judicial probe into the tragedy which claimed 102 lives last Friday. The chief minister had also said the services of a sitting judge would be sought for conducting the inquiry.