Congress legislature Party Deputy leader Bala Bachchan on Thursday claimed that Petlawad blast main accused Rajendra Kaswa is not dead and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
The Home Minister has admitted in his reply to a written query that a reward of Rs5,000 has been announced on Kaswa's arrest and that the DNA test is being conducted. However, the Government is now claiming that he died in the blast. Which information is wrongIJ Bachchan told the media on the Vidhan Sabha premises here.
He suspected that informing Kaswa's death could be a conspiracy of the Government. He pointed out that Narco test analysis of his family members was also not done. Bachchan claimed that local people had seen him escaping after the blast. The Congress would demand a CBI probe into the matter.
Eighty-nine people were killed when gelatine sticks illegally stockpiled in a godown owned by Kaswa exploded at Petlawad in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district on September 12. Kaswa was declared absconding after the incident. A reward of Rs 5 lakh was announced for his arrest. Three days ago, Jhabua police claimed on the basis of matching of DNA samples that Kaswa died during the explosion.
Earlier, during question hour, the Government admitted in the Assembly that smartphones could not be distributed to students of Government colleges due to anomalies in tender and assured that the distribution would be done shortly. Replying to a question by Nishank Kumar Jain of the Congress, Minister of State for Higher Education Deepak Joshi said the scheme could not be implemented despite being approved by the Department in September 2014 due to anomalies in tender.
He said smartphones could not be distributed for the current session because it is not possible to ascertain whether students would achieve 75 per cent attendance, a condition necessary for being eligible for the scheme. Joshi said smarphones would be distributed to students of both current and previous sessions.