Bhopal gas tragedy: Shiv Sena demands action against Arjun Singh

BHOPAL - The Shiv Sena party staged a protest in Bhopal on Wednesday to demand action against veteran Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh over his alleged role in the release of former Union Carbide Chairman Warren Anderson, the prime accused in the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy, who was allowed to leave the country soon after the catastrophe.

The Shiv Sena activists today submitted a memorandum to Madhya Pradesh Governor Rameshwar Thakur seeking action against Arjun Singh and also demanded that free treatment should be given to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

The protestors also burnt Arjun Singh’s effigy demanding swift action against the culprits.

“We are protesting Arjun Singh’s liaisons with Anderson, where he traded the lives of thousands of gas victims and also let Anderson escape from the country. He has worked like a traitor,” said Sanjay Saxena, State Secretary of Shiv Sena in Bhopal.The Shiv Sena wants action against Arjun Singh for betraying the country. We demand free of cost treatment for the gas victims and investigation against former Chief Justice of India Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi, who played a suspicious role in the law procedures,” he added.

Shiv Sena also threatened to stage State-wide protests, if their demands were not met.

Singh is alleged to have ordered the release of Anderson, but opposition parties also allege that he was instructed to do so by the then Central Government led by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.nderson has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, grievous assault and killing and poisoning human beings and animals.

A District Magistrate’s Court in Bhopal had on June 7 convicted all eight accused on grounds of negligence under Section 304 (a) for the tragedy.

The court also granted bail to seven of the eight accused and released them on submission of a bond and a surety of Rs 25,000 each.

The eight accused are Keshub Mahendra, Vijay Gokhle, Kishore Kamdar, J Mukund, S P Choudhary, K V Shetty and S I Qureshi and R B Roy Choudhary.

Out of the accused R B Roy Choudhary, then former Assistant Works Manager Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), Mumbai, died during the trial.

Anderson has been designated an absconder. (ANI)