Visits grieving families; promises justice, support
STATE TIMES NEWS
RAJOURI: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday visited Badhaal village to meet the families of the 17 individuals who tragically lost their lives, impacting three families.
Expressing profound grief, the Chief Minister extended his condolences and assured the bereaved families of full support and assistance by his government.
He was accompanied by Cabinet Minister Javed Rana and MLA Budhal, Javed Iqbal Choudhary, during the visit.
The Chief Minister stressed that the government’s priority is to ensure the prevention of such incidents in the future and immediate end to a spate of unfortunate deaths.
He assured the public that a detailed investigation is underway to determine the cause of the tragedy.
“The civil administration and health department are actively addressing the matter, while the police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the incident. Additionally, a central team has been deputed and is working diligently to uncover the reasons behind this unfortunate loss of life,” he stated. During the visit, MLA Budhal Javed Iqbal Choudhary submitted a proposal for compensation to the affected families.
The Chief Minister confirmed that the proposal is under active consideration and pledged timely action.
Omar Abdullah also directed Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Abhishek Sharma, to extend all necessary support to the families during this difficult time.
He reassured the public that the findings of the investigation will be made transparent and that appropriate measures will be implemented based on the results.
Urging restraint in political interference, he added, “I appeal to everyone to allow the concerned agencies to perform their duties. Identifying the reasons behind these tragic deaths is our utmost priority, and we are committed to taking steps to prevent such occurrences in the future.”
Talking to reporters, the Chief Minister asserted that a probe is underway to unravel the mystery behind 17 deaths , assuring people that all questions will be answered soon.
Abdullah said building big hospitals everywhere is not possible but inadequacy in the health sector at district levels will be addressed to provide better healthcare facilities to people in remote pockets.
“Why this happened? We need an answer to this question. It’s not a disease, so a police investigation is underway. They have formed a special investigation team and will complete their probe.
“The Centre has also deputed a team which is collecting samples and doing their activities. I want to assure all that the joint efforts of civil administration, police and the government of India will find out the answers to all questions about what had happened,” the Chief Minister said.
He said his government responded immediately on getting information about the tragedy.
“The Health Department mobilized its teams and also involved other departments…the district administration also tried to understand the reasons (behind the deaths).
“First, the focus was to know whether this is the result of any disease and in case it is a disease our biggest responsibility was to ensure that it does not spread. All the tests were conducted and the results revealed that there are no bacteria or viruses,” the Chief Minister said.
He said the investigation is ongoing and so far no concrete reason was found about the unfortunate deaths in the three families, mostly of children.
Asked about opposition criticism of his government over the handling of the situation, Abdullah said he would not like to do politics on such a happening.
“…Had we worked in haste and taken any wrong step, then you would have blamed us (for the deaths). The administration responded to the situation in a right way and the local MLA (Javaid Iqbal Choudhary) was there on the ground, taking the people into confidence and keeping them informed.
“We took time because we failed to establish the reason for the deaths. But we will expose the truth though it will take two or three more days and we have no issues with it,” he said, adding “we will come out with the answers to all the questions”.
The chief minister said he had talked to the Deputy Commissioner and the MLA who have given some suggestions which will be implemented soon.