PATNA: A day after a stampede at Sheetla Mata temple in Nalanda left nine people, including eight women, dead and 12 injured, police on Wednesday arrested four priests and registered a case against 40 people. Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar ordered a security audit of all religious places across the state.
“An FIR has been registered at the Deepnagar police station against 20 named people and 20 unidentified persons. Those named in the FIR include the president, secretary, and treasurer of the temple’s management committee,” a police official said. The arrested priests have been identified as Anuj Kumar Pandey, Awadhesh Kumar Mishra, Vivekananda Pandey, and Niranjan Kumar Pandey.
Deep Nagar police station SHO Rajmani and four other police personnel were suspended on Tuesday following reports of security lapses and poor crowd management at the temple. According to police officials familiar with the details, the preliminary investigation into the stampede suggests that the fault lies with the SHO of Deepnagar police station under whose jurisdiction the temple falls. Sources said the SHO was assigned duty at Rajgir in view of President Droupadi Murmu’s visit.
The DGP said, “A special investigation team has already been set up to look into circumstances that led to the tragic incident. There were more than 8,000 devotees present in and around the temple premises. The temple management did not take care to arrange queues of devotees.”
Bihar State Religious Trusts Board Chairman Ranvir Nandan visited the temple on Wednesday. He admitted that there were lapses at the management level as a huge crowd was supposed to assemble at the temple on Tuesday. “Registration of the temples and improved management are imperative to prevent such incidents in the future,” Nandan said.
The preliminary inquiry found that inadequate crowd management arrangements led to the tragic incident, sources said. Investigators are also verifying whether some people accepted money to allow devotees to bypass queues, leading to a sudden surge in crowd pressure. Security audit will assess whether entrance and exit gates are arranged according to the expected number of people at religious places, the DGP said.