Panel formed to investigate Bihar stampede

Bihar principal secretary (home) Amir Subhani and additional director general of police Gupteshwar Pandey will head the panel which will probe the circumstances that lead to the mishap  during the Dussehra Festival celebrations at Gandhi Maidan in the city.

Subhani was quoted as saying by Times of India, "An open hearing will be held on Tuesday in the office of Patna DM. Witnesses are free to appear at the hearing."

Union Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday blamed the Bihar government for the stampede.

He has demanded an investigation into the incident by a sitting judge of Patna High Court.

Slamming the JD(U) led government in Bihar, Paswan said: "There was no security, no lighting, one gate was open while more than five lakh people were present there ."

"This is not the first time it has happened. The state government is insensitive and solely responsible for this.  It took hours for them to take action," he said.

The Centre earlier in the day sought report from Bihar Government on the stampede that took away 33 lives, media reported.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi about the stampede in Patna which left 33 people dead after the Dussehra celebrations.

Singh is understood to have sought a report from the state government on the incident.

He also assured Bihar every possible help.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi over telephone and reviewed the situation arising out of the stampede.

He has sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 50,000 for the critically injured, from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

As many as 33 people, including women and children, were killed and 29 injured in a stampede at the landmark Gandhi Maidan on Friday evening.