Lucknow: Barely two days after 39 people were killed after consuming spurious liquor, a top Uttar Pradesh official on Sunday said the government did not have any information about compensation given to those killed in the tragedy "due to series of holidays last week".
"The government did have any information regarding the compensation (to be given to kin of hooch tragedy victims)... as there were three consecutive holidays last week," Secretary, Home DS Sharma told reporters here.
During a routine Home briefing, Sharma was asked whether the state government had given compensation to 39 people killed in Hooch tragedy in Azamgarh district.
When asked about the cane-charge on homeguards and their demands in the state capital, Sharma too did not have any answers.
"Homeguard department knows their problems...Ask them about it," Sharma said.
When reporters asked him about the letter by Governor BL Joshi asking Home department to take appropriate action against IPS officer Rajesh Modak, who beat his follower in Moradabad during his tenure as SSP, Sharma said that he "did not have any information regarding this".
Governor had on October 4 written a letter to Principal Secretary Home to initiate appropriate action against Modak.
Akhilesh Yadav government had earlier suspended Secretary, Revenue G Srinivasulu and removed Secretary Home RN Upadhyay and for making insensitive comments during media briefings.
When asked about death toll in Uttrakahand calamity, Srinivasulu on Jun 27 had said, "Yahan zinda aane walon ka theek se ginti nahi ho pa raha hai, Marne walon ka kaise pata lagega" (How could one tell about the number of those dead...Even the number of those coming alive cannot be counted properly".
Upadhayay, when asked about reason of a suicide incident in Sonbhadra on May 23, had said "everybody who is born, dies" in a philosophical way and was later removed from the department.
