Thiruvananthapuram: Retired judge of
Kerala High Court, Justice MR Hariharan Nair, will probe the
Pulmedu stampede tragedy that claimed the lives of 102
Sabarimala pilgrims on January 14.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the state
cabinet here last evening, official sources said.
Soon after the tragedy, the government had announced a
judicial probe into the circumstances of the mishap and sought
the services of a sitting High Court judge.
However, the High Court recently conveyed its
difficulty in making available the services of a sitting judge
for conducting the inquiry.
The tragedy occurred along the forest trekking route
between Sabarimala and Vandiperiyar when the pilgrims were
rushing back after offering prayers at the hill shrine on
`makara samkranthi` day on January 14, which marked the finale
of the annual pilgrimage to the Lord Ayyappa temple.
Most of the victims belonged to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh.
PTI
