Crowd uncontrollable: On the last Monday of Sawan in Bihar’s Madhepura district, a large number of devotees thronged the Sinheshwar temple and chaos ensued. After around 8 am on Monday morning, the crowd for Jalabhishek started increasing steadily. Meanwhile, a stampede started and a stampede-like situation was created as the queue of devotees broke.
Barricading broke, many injured
Due to the heavy pressure of the crowd, the barricading of the administration installed in the temple premises was also broken. Meanwhile, around half a dozen devotees were injured after falling. A policeman on duty was also injured during the crowd control operation. His uniform is also said to have been torn due to the pressure of the crowd.
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All the injured were immediately rushed to JNKTM Medical College Hospital, where they were treated.
Devotees started pouring in from 1 o’clock in the night
According to information, a large number of devotees started reaching the temple premises for Jalabhishek as soon as the doors of the temple were opened after the official puja at around 1 o’clock on Sunday night. In no time, the crowd had swelled.
On receiving information that the situation was becoming uncontrollable, administrative and police officials including DM, SP, SDM and SDPO of Madhepura reached the spot. Additional police forces were also called.
Rearranged queue
The police and administration brought the crowd under control after a lot of effort. After that, the devotees were once again arranged in a queue and water bath was performed. The temple trust committee and administration appealed to the devotees to maintain patience and calm.
The officials gave priority to the safety of the devotees while managing the crowd. The injured include Runa Devi, a resident of Jalseema Ward-4 of Sonbarsa Police Station area in Saharsa, Sintu Kumar, a resident of Manganj in Supaul, policeman Siddhant Kumar and Sulena Devi.