Bhopal, Apr 10 (PTI) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday questioned why police have not arrested two office-bearers of the Indore temple even ten days after the stepwell roof collapse tragedy on its premises claimed 36 lives.

CPI (M) state secretary Jaswinder Singh alleged chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was elusive about assuring the arrest of the accused persons responsible for the tragedy and prosecuting them.

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“He (Chief Minister) is talking about rebuilding the (demolished) temple there (in the same place), but was skirting off giving an assurance on arresting the accused and prosecuting them,” a CPI (M) release said.

Chouhan on Friday backed his Bharatiya Janata Party colleague Kailash Vijaywargiya's suggestion that 'bawdis' or stepwells must be preserved as a source of water rather than being covered.

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He had tweeted that the temple "will be constructed again by ensuring full safety, coordination and harmony so that devotees can perform puja again there".

The CPI (M) leader has demanded that the accused office-bearers be arrested immediately and added that the "flimsy" ground of their ill health cannot be accepted.

After the tragedy, an FIR was lodged against Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple Trust president Sevaram Galani and secretary Murli Kumar Sabnani under the Indian Penal Code section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

While Sabnani was injured in the incident, Galani was unwell, according to police.

The floor cave-in took place at the Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal Temple in Patel Nagar on March 30 on Ram Navami, after which, on April 3, the Indore Municipal Corporation demolished the structure and filled the exposed stepwell with debris intending to close it forever.

Officials had said the action was being taken to remove encroachments from about 10,000 square feet of land around the temple premises.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)