''What should I do if so many people come at once?'' Andhra temple founder on stampede that killed 9
Kasibugga (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): Claiming he was not responsible for the tragic stampede at Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple here that left nine devotees dead, the 94-year-old founder of the temple has said devotees rushed on their own during the gathering.
He further said he had not informed the police as he thought everything would be normal like any other day and did not expect such a big crowd on Saturday.
Nine people--eight women and a boy--were killed and many others injured in the stampede at the temple constructed by Panda on his own land, here in Srikakulam District, on Saturday.
The tragedy was worsened by the Ekadasi observance coinciding with 'Karthika Masam', drawing large crowds.
"What should I do if so many people come at once? I usually send everyone in line but yesterday there were so many people. I don't know what happened, I did not inform any police," temple priest Mukunda Panda told videos.
"I did not inform the police. I have courage, I told everyone to go in a queue line. People came for darshan — what can I do if they rushed and the situation turned like this?” temple priest Mukunda Panda asked while speaking to the media.
He further said he was there until 3 PM without having lunch even as police came and controlled the crowd.
The temple, owned by priest Mukunda Panda, was neither converted for non-agricultural use nor registered with the Endowments Department, and the organisers failed to inform local police before conducting the event, Srikakulam district superintendent of police, KV Maheshwara Reddy told PTI.
The SP said the temple organisers neither sought mandatory permissions nor applied for police protection before conducting the event.
According to the SP, the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple is a private establishment and was operating without proper approvals. The organisers reportedly failed to comply with safety protocols. Meanwhile, police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
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Madhya Pradesh: BJP leader assaults blind woman in Church
Jabalpur: Anju Bhargava, vice-president of BJP's Jabalpur city unit, has come under sharp scrutiny, creating the ripples of political controvery in Madhya Pradesh, after a video surfaced online showing her physically assaulting a visually impaired woman inside a church.
The New Indian Express has reported that the said incident reportedly took place on Saturday (20 Dec) at a church in the Hawa Bagh area, which comes under the limits of Gorakhpur police station.
The video footage that has circulated widely on Monday shows Anju Bhargava, assaulting the blind woman in the presence of a police officer. In the video, Bhargava is seen shouting at the woman, twisting her arm and forcibly grabbing her face. The victim can be heard pleading to Bhargava to speak to her rather than resorting to physical violence. Also, we can hear Bhargava screaming, “will be blind in her next birth too”
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According to The Indian Express reports, Bhargava entered the church, with members of several Hindutva affiliated organisations, alleging that the visually impaired children were being forced into religious conversion; But, the students present at the church have flatly denied all the allegations.
An unnamed police officer cited in media reports states that there was no evidence to support claims of forced religious conversion. The incident has since intensified political debate in the state, with opposition parties demanding accountability and action against those involved.
