Panel members begin probe into Kumbh stampede

PRAYAGRAJ A three-member judicial commission began its investigation into the Maha Kumbh stampede on Friday as state authorities separately started probing if other such incidents took place at the mega religious festival on the same day, officials aware of the matter said.

The panel, headed by retired Allahabad high court judge Harsh Kumar and comprising retired IPS officer VK Gupta and retired IAS officer DK Singh, reached Sangam, where at least 30 people were killed in a predawn stampede on Wednesday.

Maha Kumbh Nagar’s deputy inspector general (DIG) Vaibhav Krishna, who accompanied the panel along with mela incharge Vijay Kiran Anand and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajesh Dwivedi, said officials were scanning CCTV footage from Wednesday to see if other disasters also occurred at the ghat, which might have gone unreported.

“We have CCTV cameras installed throughout the mela area. We are analysing the footage and all the places are being identified, where there was information about a stampede-like situation,” he said.

The DIG’s remarks came amid witnesses saying that people might have been crushed at other sites apart from the one at Sangam. HT reported on January 31 that hours after the Sangam disaster, there was another stampede-like situation about 3km away at Jhusi in Sector 21, leading to the deaths of at least seven people.

On Friday, HT also spoke to at least three people at the Mahaveer Marg intersection —about 3km away from the nose of Sangam and also in Sector 21 — who said they saw multiple people collapsing and possibly dying on Wednesday amid a surging crowd.

“There was massive overcrowding in the area between 5am to 8am on Wednesday. Several people, including women and children, were lying on the ground motionless. They were taken away in ambulances at around 8am in multiple rounds,” said Nilesh Saroj, who sells tea and eatables in the area.

Amit Yadav, who sells wafers near the intersection, said police soon cordoned off the area. “We were not allowed to go near the people lying on the ground. Ambulances were used to remove them,” he said.

Web portal The Lallantop first reported eyewitness accounts of an incident at this location.

Ram Sahai Prajapati, who ran a small eatery at the intersection, said his shop was also damaged in the melee. “The crowd pressure was unbearable,” he said.

DIG Krishna reiterated that they were checking all footage when HT asked him about the witnesses account from Mahavir Marg intersection. “We are checking it and then corrective action will be taken,” he said.

On Wednesday, surging crowds burst out of police barricades to rush towards a narrow strip of the riverbank at the Maha Kumbh, leading to a stampede. Authorities said the tragedy occurred between 1am and 2am as millions of devotees jostled to find a toehold before taking a dip at the holy Sangam nose, smashing through cordons and putting the spotlight on administrative lacunae in preparing for the “Mauni Amavasya”, considered by many as the most auspicious moment of the six-week festival. The Uttar Pradesh formed the commission on January 29 and it is slated to submit a report on the stampede in a month.

The topography of the area and circumstances leading to the incident are being studied. CCTV footage and other evidence will be analysed in depth as part of the probe,” said panel head Harsh Kumar.

According to people aware of the matter, the judicial panel asked officials about the sequence of events that led to overcrowding at the nose of Sangam, a triangular landmass sandwiched between the river Ganga in the north and the river Yamuna, on Wednesday. Witnesses to the tragedy said that limited access to exit points worsened the disaster as the area was choc-a-bloc with pilgrims, with no space left for people to turn back after taking the dip. They also accused the police of doing nothing.

“The judicial commission members visited the incident site and collected all basic information from officials. They also held a meeting with officials at the [Integrated Command and Control Centre] ICCC before leaving. Whatever documents and details the commission asks for will be provided on priority,” said Krishna.