The home minister said that there were no barricades at all at Pushkar ghat
Pushkaralu Stampede
Hyderabad: Contradictory versions by Deputy Chief Minister, N. China Rajappa and district collector H. Arun Kumar have exposed the cover up bid by the state government over the exact reasons of the stampede that occurred on the opening day. While the district collector has clearly stated that the crowd smashed the barricades and surged forward for the holy dip, the home minister said that there were no barricades at all at Pushkar ghat.
While the collector’s report clearly pointed out that the crowd had to wait for nearly two hours for the VIPs, including the CM, to exit from there, the Deputy CM said the crowd’s anxiety caused the stampede and the presence of VIPs had nothing to do with it.
Mr China Rajappa also defended the government and the police saying the situation had gone out of control as thousands converged at one ghat. This also exposed the government’s lack of planning as people were not informed beforehand on using any ghat at any place and at any time after the advent of Pushkar time. The government had to make desperate attempts to control damage as the Opposition continued to target the CM, for the tragedy. “In fact, the collector’s report has nailed the government’s defence: (1) Making the people wait for two hours after the start of Pushkarams (till 8;30 am); (2) No iron fencing was set up; (3) Police failed to let people in an organised manner (4) With people coming from all directions, no attempt was made to shut routes (5) When huge convergence was taking place right from 2 am to 3 am, no precautions were taken to control the people from converging at Pushkar ghat alone; (6) No VIP was asked to go to VIP ghat instead of Pushkar ghat. All these were failures and the leadership has to explain,” an official, on condition of anonymity said. China Rajappa, on his part, tried to defend the government saying nothing could be done by anyone when such a large crowd surged forward suddenly.
Security wakes up over abandoned gun:
Security personnel at Kovvur town went into a tizzy on Thur-sday after a .38 calibre revolver was found abandoned on the steps of Pushkar ghat. A swimmer, while collecting coins offered by devotees to the river, found the Webley & Scott revolver on the steps of Gautami Maharshi Pushkar ghat. This ghat is a few km from the Goshpada Kshe-tram which Chief Minister N. Chandr-ababu Naidu visited later in the day. The weapon was kept in a leather pouch and there were no bullets. The swimmer alerted the staff on duty who in turn alerted the police.
Police suspects that some devotee might have kept it on the steps of the ghat and forgotten to pick it up after taking his holy dip. Another reason being put forth is that the gun owner might have deliberately left it behind after performing the rituals as he no longer required it.
Kovvur DSP N. Venkateswara Rao said, “We have seized the weapon and it seems to be a service revolver. If its owner claims it by showing all the requisite documents, we will hand it over to him. However, it is an offence to leave the weapon unattended.” Police booked a case under Section 102 of CrPC and investigation is on.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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