Did netas put pressure on officials to lift ban on fireworks at Kerala's Puttingal temple?

Thiruvananthapuram: A blame game has begun in Kerala on who is responsible for the death of over 100 innocents in the shocking tragedy at the Puttingal temple in Kerala.

While the temple committee, organisers of the fireworks display at Puttingal Devi temple, claimed that they had the requisite permissions for the event, the Kollam district administration claimed that they had explicitly denied permission for any sort of fireworks as part of the Meena Bharani festival at the temple.

The temple management says that the district administration had only denied permission for a fireworks competition not the main event – the fireworks display.

However, reports now suggest that the temple committee had tried to mislead the authorities after they raised the red flag over the holding of the fireworks event.

While the administration stuck to its ground against fireworks of any sort in the temple premises, TOI reports that the temple committee had the backing of the local politicians, who put pressure on officials to allow the fireworks.