3 killed, 50 injured in stampede near Gundicha temple
Puri: Atleast three persons, including two women, were killed and around 50 others injured in a stampede near Shree Gundicha temple in Puri on Sunday morning during a ceremony related to the ongoing Rath Yatra festivities. The incident took place around 4.20 am when thousands of devotees had gathered near the chariots parked in front of the temple. The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, and the condition of six persons is stated to be critical.
The Gundicha temple, located around 3 km from the 12th century shrine, is the aunt's house of Lord Jagannath and his siblings Subhadra and Balabhadra. During Rath Yatra, the deities visit their aunt's home, stay there for seven days and then return to their main abode — the Jagannath temple.
According to police, chaos ensued after two trucks carrying materials for rituals reportedly entered the crowded spot near the chariots of Lord Jagannath and his sibling deities. The deities were seated on the chariots when the stampede took place.
'Thousands of devotees had assembled outside the temple since the early hours to catch a glimpse of the deities when the 'Pahuda' (cloth) covering the front portion of the chariots was to be removed, as part of the rituals,' the officials said. The deceased were identified as Basanti Sahu (36) from Bolagarh, and Premakant Mohanty (80) and Pravati Das (42) from Balipatna.
Their bodies have been handed over to family members, and the cremation will take place at 'Swargadwar' in Puri. Majhi ordered an administrative inquiry into the incident to be carried out under the supervision of the Development Commissioner. The Odisha government will provide financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
Earlier, in a post on X, Majhi sought forgiveness from devotees of Lord Jagannath for the stampede, and tendered an apology on behalf of his government for the incident.
'Due to intense eagerness among devotees to have a glimpse of Mahaprabhu... an unfortunate incident occurred because of the resulting jostling and chaos. I and my government seek forgiveness from all Jagannath devotees. We express our condolences to the families of devotees who lost their lives... pray to Mahaprabhu Jagannath to grant them the strength to bear this profound sorrow,' Majhi said. He also said security lapses behind the incident would be probed and those found guilty will face stringent action.
State Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said the situation is now normal at the Shree Gundicha temple, where devotees are offering prayers to the deities. Health department sources said among those critically injured, one has been shifted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, while five others are in ICU.
The chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra had on Saturday reached Shree Gundicha temple, a day after the Rath Yatra began in Puri. The return car journey, known as 'Bahuda Yatra', will held on July 5.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
29 minutes ago
- Hans India
BMTC Fines Ticketless Passengers and Enforces Women's Seat Rules
The BMTC increased checks to stop people from traveling without tickets in and around the city. In April and May 2025, staff checked 38,116 bus trips and fined 5,706 passengers for not having valid tickets, collecting Rs 12,64,051 in fines. Also, 3,500 conductors were fined for not doing their duty. The checks included enforcing rules about seats reserved for women. In total, 652 men have been fined Rs 65,200 for sitting in these reserved seats. They were fined under KMV Rules 94 and Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Over two months, a total of 6,358 passengers were fined, and Rs 13,29,251 was collected over two months. BMTC asked commuters to buy tickets or passes to avoid fines and help improve services. The corporation also reminded men to respect women's seats to make travel safer and better for everyone. With inputs from Bangalore Mirror.
New Indian Express
32 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Fake Aadhaar, residence certificate racket busted in Telangana
ADILABAD: Utnoor ASP Kajol Singh stated that police arrested members of a gang involved in creating fake Aadhaar cards and residence certificates. Out of 12 accused, three—Sheikh Kalim (34), Sheikh Farid (59), and Jadhav Gajanand (35), all residents of Islampur village in Ichoda mandal have been remanded to judicial custody. On June 25, at Ichoda police station, it was discovered that Sahni Suraj had submitted a fake certificate claiming he was from Islamnagar to gain employment with the CISF. However, during police verification, it was revealed he hails from Uttar Pradesh. The provided address details in Islamnagar, were found to be false. Further investigation revealed that nine persons from Uttar Pradesh had approached local residents offering Rs 1 lakh per document to obtain fake Aadhaar and residence certificates. Initially, Deepak Tiwari obtained an Aadhaar card for Rs 4,000 and sought a residence certificate from the panchayat secretary, who refused to sign as he was not a local. Sheikh Farid and Sheikh Kalim, one of whom is the husband of the former sarpanch, forged the panchayat secretary's signature and obtained a fake residence certificate through Mee Seva. After Deepak Tiwari secured employment, the remaining eight followed the same path and also joined the CISF using forged documents. Verification later confirmed none were residents of Islamnagar. In total, Rs 9 lakh was agreed upon for the fake documentation. Of this, Rs 3 lakh went to Sheikh Farid and Sheikh Kalim, while the remaining Rs 6 lakh is reportedly in Uttar Pradesh. When local resident Jadhav Gajanand discovered the forgery, he attempted to extort money and was paid Rs 20,000.
New Indian Express
32 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Unprepared and negligent, Odisha Police fail big time
BHUBANESWAR: Despite an unprecedented rush of devotees during Rath Yatra, Odisha Police failed to anticipate the crowd surge on Saturday night, hours after the chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath reached Gundicha Temple. The chariot-pulling could be completed on the second day with the participation of a huge number of pilgrims but the state police, which had made a massive deployment, was caught napping, literally, when the tragedy struck in the wee hours. A large number of people visited Puri in the night after the holy Trinity reached Gundicha Temple, to have Their darshan on the chariots. Most of these devotees are drawn from catchment areas and Saturday night was no different. In fact, there were a huge crowd headed towards Puri but despite the presence of technology, surveillance and CCTV, the writing on the wall was missed. A police officer admitted there was an 'error' in assessing the possible gathering of people near Gundicha Temple. 'About 20 to 22 sections of police force are generally deployed after the three chariots reach Gundicha shrine but they were outnumbered by the huge gathering,' he added. If sources are to be believed, a DSP-ranked officer with a team was placed at Saradhabali. However, it was poor coordination and absence of leadership which led to the stampede-like situation. Police sources said, there was heavy rush of vehicles on the highway between Bhubaneswar and Puri on Saturday night. Since it was a weekend, the number was substantially high but the arrangement at near Gundicha Temple was not up to the mark.
