The stampede spot at Gandhi Maidan on October 3

One month’s time seems not enough for the two-member inquiry commission set up by the state government to find the reason behind the Gandhi Maidan stampede, which left 33 people dead and over 30 others injured.

The stampede took place on October 3.

The inquiry commission — comprising the home department principal secretary, Amir Subhani, and additional director-general of police (headquarters) Gupteshwar Pandey — has not submitted its report on the stampede even after a month of the tragedy.

Subhani, heading the commission, claimed on Monday that the report would be submitted to the government within a week. “All the paraphernalia is complete and we hope to submit the findings of the probe in the current week,” he told The Telegraph.

Asked the reason for the delay, Subhani said: “It is a time-consuming process. The motive of the government behind setting up the inquiry panel is to find out the reason for the tragedy and also to fix the responsibility of the officials. This is not an easy task.”

The commission had recorded the statements of the magistrates and the police personnel deployed at the venue of Ravan Vadh, which had attracted a huge gathering on October 3. The statement of the eyewitnesses and the relatives of the victims were also recorded in camera at the two-day public hearing conducted at the collectorate.

The government was, however, quick in removing the officials right from the senior superintendent of police to the divisional commissioner. All those shifted from Patna have still been kept in waiting for posting.

Subhani also clarified that there was a misconception among the people that the findings of the stampede during the 2012 Chhath were not submitted to the government. “The report on the Chhath stampede was handed over to the government, covering all aspects of the tragedy,” he added. At least 18 people were killed in the stampede near Adalat Ghat on November 19, 2012, after a makeshift bridge collapsed.

Even Patna High Court was on Monday informed on somewhat similar line so far as submission of the stampede report is concerned.

Appearing on behalf of the state in a petition seeking judicial inquiry into the Dussehra probe, principal additional advocate-general Lalit Kishore told the high court on Monday that the probe report would be submitted within a fortnight.

He added that the Chhath tragedy report was already submitted in February 2013. The court disposed of the case as it felt that it was not opportune time to interfere in the matter. However, the court gave liberty to the petitioner to challenge the report if he was not satisfied with the findings of the probe.

The inordinate delay in submission of the report has left the relatives of those killed in the incident fuming. The anger was writ large on the face of Prashant Kumar Gupta, who lost his mother Gayatri Devi and elder brother’s wife Ranjana in the stampede.

Prashant, a resident of Salimpur Ahra near Gandhi Maidan, said: “I am least interested in the findings of the commission’s report. What matters for the family, which lost two members in the incident, is the punitive action against the erring officials,” he said.

Krishna Kumar, whose only son Aryan died in the stampede, is yet to overcome from the tragedy. “It is difficult to forget the incident. What the government is doing against the public servants hardly matters for us. Sara prashan lipa-poti mein lagi hai (the entire administration is busy in making efforts to hush up the matter),” Krishna said in his choked voice.

Lakhpati, a resident of Sipara in Patna, is more vocal against the government machinery. “It would have been a different scene, had a similar incident happened with the kith and kin of a senior official of the government,” he said. Lakhpati’s daughter Soni had suffered grievous injuries in the incident.

Most of the survivors apprehended that the Ravan Vadh stampede would meet the same fate as happened with other tragedies in the past.