Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Thursday suspended four officials from the education and transport departments after 13 children died in an accident at an unmanned railway crossing in Kushinagar. The four are Kushinagar Basic Education Officer Hemant Rao, Dudhi Block Education Officer Shesh Bahadur, Assistant Regional Transport Officer Raj Kishore Trivedi and Transport Officer Ranvir Singh.
Gorakhpur Divisional Commissioner Anil Kumar, who conducted an investigation into the incident, recommended the move. “I have submitted a report recommending action against errant officers and school management members to the state government,” Kumar said, according to the Hindustan Times.
Adityanath also ordered the police to file a first information report against Kareem Jahan Khan, the manager-cum-principal of Divine Public School, who was detained by the police on Thursday, reported The Financial Express. The chief minister has accused Khan of illegally running the institution.
The train hit the school van at the Dudhi Behpurva crossing, 100 km from Gorakhpur, at 7.10 am on Thursday. A railway spokesperson said that a volunteer deployed at the crossing had tried to stop the van but its driver allegedly ignored him and did not seem to have heard the whistle of the oncoming Thawe-Kapatanganj passenger train either. Adityanath, who visited the spot in the evening, blamed the driver of the school van for the accident, and claimed that he was wearing headphones while driving.
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