Amritsar, September 28

Families of people who were killed in a train accident during a Dussehra celebration in Amritsar last year staged a protest outside Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's residence in the city demanding government jobs.

About 60 people were mowed down by a train that hurtled through a crowd, which had spilled onto the railways tracks while watching a Ravana effigy burn on Dussehra.

Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, was the chief guest at the event held on October 19, 2018.

The protesters alleged that the Sidhus had failed to honour their promise of ensuring a government job for a family member of each victim.

They claimed that Navjot Singh Sidhu had promised to adopt the families that had lost their earning member and to bear their monthly kitchen expenses.

Besides, they claimed, Navjot Singh Sidhu had promised free education for the next of kin of all victims.

The protesters, residents of Navjot Singh Sidhu's Amritsar East constituency, demanded to know the outcome of a magisterial inquiry into the train tragedy. They also demanded that responsibility be fixed for the accident and the guilty be punished.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had ordered the inquiry into the incident. A 300-page report was submitted to the Punjab Home Secretary in November last year.

As many as 30 families raised slogans against the Sidhus during the three-and-a-half-hour-long protest. They ended the demonstration after police officials informed them that the Congress leader and his wife were out of city.

Seventy-two people were injured in the accident, which took place at Joda Phatak near here. PTI