A police officer’s ill-conceived move of opening a gate for a woman who was unwell, when thousands were waiting in line for temple darshan tickets, led to the stampede that killed six persons in Tirupati, according to district and temple authorities. The incident occurred near the MGM High School in Bairagipatteda in Tirupati, one of the several places where special darshan tickets were to be issued from 5 am on January 9.
Thousands of people had gathered for tokens for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi, for special darshan at the Tirumala Venkateswara temple. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) had planned to issue around 1.2 lakh tokens for darshan January 10, 11 and 12. Starting from January 8 afternoon, devotees had started to gather at the counters, to wait in line all night for the tokens. A total of 94 counters were set up in nine places across Tirupati.
TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao said that at the Bairagipatteda counter where the stampede happened, around 2000 devotees had gathered by the night of January 8. “A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) opened the gate, and everyone rushed in at once, resulting in the stampede,” he said.
Refraining from naming the police officer, Shyamala Rao said, “Our planning was fine. But the DySP left a gate open and didn’t take necessary precautions. On preliminary inquiry, this seems to be the reason. A detailed inquiry needs to be done.”
Tirupati Collector S Venkateswar said that around 40 persons were admitted to the hospital after the stampede. “Six persons have died, including five women and one man. All of them are above 40 years old. The others are out of danger,” he said, adding that the police officer had opened the gate suddenly because a woman was unwell. “People barged in and the stampede ensued. The victims suffered chest compression and respiratory failure as a result,” the Collector said.
However, several eyewitnesses blamed the police for not providing adequate protection.
An eyewitness told TV9, “Even if there were four police personnel at the gate, such a disaster would not have happened. Lives would not have been lost.” She said there was not sufficient police presence at the gate where the stampede happened.
Another woman told TV9, “There were not enough barricades or lights. The gate opened suddenly, and everyone barged in.”
Speaking to ABN, the son of one of the stampede victims said, “Thousands of people had gathered. The gate was locked. We were expecting the gate to be opened at midnight, but they opened it suddenly around 8.30 pm. Everyone rushed inside in. My mother also went in. We thought she must’ve gone ahead and would buy tickets. But we couldn’t find her. We looked for two hours, and when I showed her photograph to a police officer, she said she had helped my mother get in an ambulance because her leg was injured. We were told she was in Ruia hospital. We didn’t find her here. We went to SVIMS hospital. Then we saw a video of her receiving CPR near Ruia. Then we found out she was already dead and her body was in the mortuary.”
Speaking to Sakshi TV, another eyewitness recalled, “We were there from around 1 pm, when there was little crowd. Towards the evening, the crowd grew bigger, but we didn’t see any police personnel to control the crowd. Suddenly, the gate was opened. Everyone barged in, my friend got stuck in the stampede and his leg was fractured.”
“It was very poorly planned. This is the first time I’ve had such an experience, I’ve come here for Vaikunta Ekadasi many times,” he said.