The investigation team has filed a chargesheet in the case of four people losing their lives during a musical night on the CUSAT campus.
The chargesheet has named Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, former principal of the School of Engineering who was in charge of Techfest, Staff Coordinator Dr. Girish Thampi, and Faculty Treasurer Dr. N Biju as accused.
The team led by Thrikkakara ACP filed the chargesheet in the Kalamassery Magistrate's Court. The accused were charged with culpable homicide.
The tragedy that shook the State, four lives lost
The tragedy that shook the country was on November 25, 2023. The deceased were identified as CUSAT Civil Engineering second year student Atulthambi, Electronics and Communication second year student Antifta, Electronics second year student Sarah Thomas, and Palakkad Mundoor Ezhakad Kottapulla Ambalavattom Thaiparambil Albin J Joseph, who had come to watch the event. More than 60 people were injured.
A song party was organized in the open-air auditorium as part of the Engineering Department's Techfest. The Thrikkakara Assistant Commissioner had filed an affidavit in the High Court that the tragedy was caused by an attempt to admit more people than the auditorium could accommodate.
Four times as many people arrived in the auditorium
More than four thousand people arrived in the auditorium that could accommodate 1,000 people. No additional security personnel were deployed to control the crowd. The police station was not informed either. Only the main gate leading to the auditorium was open. The construction of the steps also added to the extent of the disaster. The report also states that there were no facilities at the site for emergency medical assistance.
