Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Friday said he has written a letter to the Governor seeking information on the exact number of death toll during the Maharashtra Bhushan Award ceremony in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. The NCP leader while speaking to reporters said that there still remains confusion over the number of people killed during the event and the exact reason behind the incident, despite officials claiming that 14 people died due to heatstroke.
The NCP leader said, "I wrote to the Governor to get information on what exactly happened in Khargar, there is confusion about the exact death toll too. Some people are saying that during the event some facilities were not given. We have not received the post-mortem report yet. I have asked for it through RTI."
Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut too alleged that the official figure of people killed during the event was not true. He accused the Shinde government of hiding the real figures of fatalities. News agency PTI quoted him as saying, "If you look at the total figure from all the villages (from the talukas in Raigad) then a minimum of 50 and maximum of 75 people have died. 'Khoke sarkar's (a term the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena uses to mock the Eknath Shinde-led government) people reached their homes and suppressed the voice of family members.."
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has announced the appointment of a committee to investigate the incident. This one-member committee will be appointed by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department and its report will be submitted within a month.