Probe into mishaps took place last year yet to be concluded
No Govt agency ever held responsible by police
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, July 19: Astonishing it may sound but it is a fact that registration of FIRs after tragic accidents has become mere a formality in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with Police showing no seriousness in pin-pointing the real causes and concluding the investigation in a time-bound manner.
This can be gauged from the fact that challans in respect of the FIRs lodged after major accidents particularly in the hilly areas of Jammu region have not been presented in the courts despite lapse of several months.
In the month of June last year, nine young girls were among 11 persons killed and seven others seriously injured when an over-loaded Tempo-Traveller vehicle carrying picnic party from Surankote to Pir Ki Gali on Mughal Road plunged into nearly 400 feet deep gorge.
Accordingly, FIR was registered in one of the Police Posts under the jurisdiction of Police Station Shopian but what came to the fore during the investigation remains a mystery as the concerned police officials expressed ignorance about the same when contacted by EXCELSIOR.
“I don’t know whether the challan has been presented or investigation is still going on”, said a Police Sub-Inspector and gave the number of another police official, who denied the information on the pretext that he was recently shifted to Shopian. All this indicates the level of seriousness towards a major accident and clearly establishes that registration of FIR was just a formality.
Similarly, in the month of July last year, 35 persons lost their lives and 16 others sustained injuries after an overloaded vehicle plunged into gorge on Kishtwar-Keshwan road and soon after the tragedy FIR was lodged.
Though several efforts were made to ascertain the fate of the FIR yet nobody was ready to share the information on one or the other pretext. This is notwithstanding the fact that an enquiry committee constituted to look into the causes of the accident had put several Government agencies in the dock for their failure on various aspects.
In the month of December last year, a Deputy Inspector General of Central Reserve Police Force and his driver had lost their lives when a bounder fell on their official vehicle in Ramban area.
Following this tragic incident, FIR was registered under relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint lodged by the CRPF. In the complaint, it was mentioned that incident had taken place because of non-serious approach of the agency involved in the widening of the highway in Ramban area, which was supposed to take precautions to prevent rolling down of boulders from the mountains.
Ironically, the investigation has not been taken to the logical conclusion despite lapse of several months. “We are still conducting investigation and hopefully the same will be concluded shortly”, said a police officer. He, however, failed to specify the reasons behind inordinate delay.
In the month of May this year yet another tragic accident took place again under the jurisdiction of Ramban Police Station because of the unplanned widening of the highway. In this accident, two persons lost their lives and seven other sustained injuries besides nine vehicles got damaged when all of a sudden landslides hit the stretch of the highway.
Again FIR under Sections 337 IPC (causing hurt by act of endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304-A IPC (causing death by negligence) was registered against the construction company at Ramban Police Station. But till date investigation is on and the concerned police is not in a position to specify the time-frame for its conclusion.
All these instances clearly establish that registration of FIRs after tragic accidents has become mere a formality in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. “The concern over such accidents remain confined to issuance of messages of grief otherwise Government should have ensured time-bound probe and submission of challans”, sources said.
They further said, “generally, the police puts blame on the drivers but no Government agency is ever held responsible despite the fact that poor condition of roads, lack of crash barriers, bad condition of vehicle, overloading and negligent driving mainly contribute in the accidents”.
“If these aspects can be held responsible by the committees assigned the task of conducting probe what is the problem for holding the concerned Government agency responsible in the FIRs”, sources asked.
Follow our WhatsApp channel