Tirupati stampede: Andhra Pradesh suspends two officials, transfers three others
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu ordered a judicial investigation into the incident that took place on Wednesday.
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The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday suspended two officials, including a deputy superintendent of police, and transferred three others a day after after six persons were killed in a stampede in Tirupati, The Indian Express reported.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the trust that runs the Sri Venkateswara temple, had set up counters at about 90 locations to issue tokens starting Thursday for a special darshan during the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival, celebrated for 10 days and attended by lakhs of devotees.
On Wednesday thousands of devotees gathered to collect tokens for the special darshan at the Bairagipatteda area. The stampede was triggered when the gate was opened to let a woman who was feeling unwell go out. However, the crowd pushed in all at once.
On Thursday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters that Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramana Kumar and K Haranath Reddy, the director of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ Sri Venkateswara Gosamrakshanasala, had been suspended, The Hindu reported.
While Kumar had been supervising the crowd control and security in the Bairagipatteda area, Reddy was found to be responsible for deciding where the ticket counters had to be set up, according to The Indian Express.
Naidu also announced the suspension of Superintendent of Police L Subbarayudu, and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ Joint Executive Officer for Health and Education M Gouthami and Chief Vigilance...
