Lucknow: Twenty-four people, including 20 women, were killed in a stampede that took place on the Rajghat Bridge that connects Varanasi to Chandauli on Saturday afternoon. More than 60 persons have been injured in the incident.
ADG (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary, who air dashed to Varanasi, confirmed the deaths and said that rescue operation were on in full swing. “Our first priority is to evacuate the injured and then facilitate the movement of the crowd,” he said.
All the victims were devotees of the Jai Gurudev cult and were there to participate in a function held to mark the anniversary of the spiritual leader.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who represents Varanasi in Lok Sabha, spoke to senior district officials and inquired about the situation.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced a compensation of Rs five lakh each for the kin of the deceased and free treatment for the injured. The Chief Minister has also asked the Varanasi commissioner to probe the incident and submit his report at the earliest.
Official sources said that a rumour that the bridge was cracking up led to the stampede while eye witnesses claimed that an elderly man apparently felt suffocated and collapsed and some other people fell on him which led to commotion.
Chief medical officer Dr V.B. Singh said that 24 people were brought dead to the hospital and many came with serious injuries. The condition of five of them is said to be critical. The remaining of the injured persons have been admitted to a hospital in Ramnagar.
Only three bodies have been identified so far and they are Rajvanti, Savitri Misra and Naval Misra. The stampede led to a 12 kilometre long traffic jam and officials from Varanasi as well as Chandauli and it took several hours before they could reach the site of the incident.
According to reports, the stampede was a result of the laxity of the district administrations of Varanasi and Chandauli and also that of the local intelligence units.
Gurudev left home at 7
In the past five months, this is the second time that the name of Jai Gurudev has grabbed headlines. In June this year, his followers clashed with the police in Jawahar Bagh in Mathura — an area they had illegally encroached upon — and the ensuing violence left 29 people dead.
On Saturday, it was again a Jai Gurudev function in Varanasi that caused a stampede and claimed 24 lives. Jai Gurudev was a spiritual leader based in Mathura and his real name was Tulsidas. It is said that he left home when he was seven years old and visited temples seeking a perfect spiritual master.
