Unprepared and negligent, Odisha Police fail big time
BHUBANESWAR: Despite an unprecedented rush of devotees during Rath Yatra, Odisha Police failed to anticipate the crowd surge on Saturday night, hours after the chariots of Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath reached Gundicha Temple.
The chariot-pulling could be completed on the second day with the participation of a huge number of pilgrims but the state police, which had made a massive deployment, was caught napping, literally, when the tragedy struck in the wee hours.
A large number of people visited Puri in the night after the holy Trinity reached Gundicha Temple, to have Their darshan on the chariots. Most of these devotees are drawn from catchment areas and Saturday night was no different. In fact, there were a huge crowd headed towards Puri but despite the presence of technology, surveillance and CCTV, the writing on the wall was missed.
A police officer admitted there was an 'error' in assessing the possible gathering of people near Gundicha Temple. 'About 20 to 22 sections of police force are generally deployed after the three chariots reach Gundicha shrine but they were outnumbered by the huge gathering,' he added. If sources are to be believed, a DSP-ranked officer with a team was placed at Saradhabali.
However, it was poor coordination and absence of leadership which led to the stampede-like situation. Police sources said, there was heavy rush of vehicles on the highway between Bhubaneswar and Puri on Saturday night. Since it was a weekend, the number was substantially high but the arrangement at near Gundicha Temple was not up to the mark.
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