Tirupati temple stampede: Two FIRs registered

Tirupati, Jan 9 (PTI) Two cases were registered in connection with the Tirupati temple stampede which left six dead and dozens injured, police said on Thursday.

The FIR was registered under Section 194 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which deals with unnatural deaths, they said.

According to police, the complaint alleged that the crowd pushed forward when the gates of the queue were opened to facilitate a sick person to come out, leading to the stampede.

Six devotees died and nearly 40 more were injured in the stampede at Bairagi Patteda near MGM School in Tirupati on Wednesday night as hundreds of them jostled for tickets for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam at Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple on Tirumala hills.

The revenue officials who have magisterial power were posted at various points as part of their duty and the FIRs were registered based on their complaints, a police official said.

On the reports that a DSP opened the gates which swelled with people in order to facilitate a sick woman to come out of the crowd, the official said he should have done so with utmost care and as per procedure.

“His intentions might be good. But it caused a disaster,” he told PTI.

Hundreds of devotees turned up on Wednesday from across the country for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam commencing from January 10. PTI GDK ROH