Retired judge to probe Meerut fire, report in 6 months

A retired High Court judge has been appointed to probe the devastating fire at a consumer goods fair here on April 10 that claimed 62 lives and submit the report within six months.

The Uttar Pradesh government in an order late last evening appointed retired judge C P Garg to head the inquiry into the fire on the inaugural day of Brand India Show at the Victoria Park here and suggest measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had visited the site a day after the tragedy and announced a judicial probe into the incident.

The Chief Minister had later asked the Allahabad High Court to appoint a judge to head it.

The BJP local unit has however demanded that a sitting High Court judge be entrusted the probe to give it more teeth.