Puri stampede: Odisha govt assures thorough probe, people criticise insufficient security

Bhubaneswar: After three people were killed and many injured in a stampede at Saradhabali near the Gundicha temple in Puri on Sunday, the Odisha government said that a thorough probe will be conducted.

The stampede occurred early in the morning between 4 a.m. to 4.30 a.m. Some eyewitnesses claimed that a truck entered the area where the devotees were gathered, who were waiting there for ‘darshan’ of the holy siblings. The truck reportedly came there to clear the palm logs kept near the chariots, which led to a commotion that soon turned into the stampede.

The survivors alleged that no police or district administration officials were present when the stampede took place.

Upon being informed, Puri Director General of Police (DGP) Y.B. Khurania, the District Collector and Superintendent of Police (SP) reached the spot.

Meanwhile, a policeman present at the spot during the stampede told reporters that there was a huge rush. After ‘Pahuda’ (ceremonial closure of Darshan of deities), devotees rushed in huge numbers. Those who died were sitting at the spot when the mishap occurred.

Speaking to media persons, Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said, “After the ceremonial closure of Darshan, when the darshan of the deities started early morning, a large number of devotees rushed towards the cordon. Around nine people complained about breathlessness. They were evacuated and taken to the hospital. As of now, the death of three devotees has been confirmed, while six others are undergoing treatment at the hospital. The post-mortem of the deceased is going on.”

Puri SP Vinit Agrawal has denied the allegations of devotees who were saying that police were not deployed at the spot during the incident.

Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan expressed his grief over the tragic deaths of the devotees and extended condolences to the family members. He assured that a thorough investigation will be conducted on the tragedy and appropriate action will be taken against those found guilty.

The deceased were identified as Pravati Das, Premkant Mohanty and Basanti Sahoo.

IANS