Bhopal tragedy : Complaint filed against Arjun Singh

Bhopal, June 15 (ANI): A complaint has been registered 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.

Advocate Furkhan Khan, who has filed a complaint in Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) R G Singh's court, has demanded the registration of a criminal case against Singh for permitting Anderson to flee to the United States in a wrong manner.

Meanwhile, a separate complaint has been filed against former Bhopal Collector Moti Singh and Superintendent of Police (SP) Swaraj Puri on the charge of facilitating the safe exit of Anderson.

The court will take up the matter for argument on June 29 following which it will decide whether the complaints are acceptable for hearing or not.

Anderson was arrested on December 7,1984, when the deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leak from Union Carbide's Bhopal plant.

The gas leakage had killed thousands of people just five days ago.

Singh is believed to have ordered the release of Anderson, but opposition parties allege that he was instructed to do so by the then Central Government led by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Anderson was 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)