Bhubaneswar, July 19: On a day the siblings of Lord Jagannath and Goddess Subhadra reached their vacation destination, Gundicha temple, director general of police Sanjeev Marik denied that the two women who died during rath yatra yesterday was because of stampede.
While Taladhwaj, the chariot of Lord Balabhadra, had reached Gundicha temple yesterday, Debadalan, the mount of Devi Subhadra and Nandighosh of Lord Jagannath were stranded at Badasankha and Balagandi squares, respectively, as evening set in.
Following the morning rituals of the Lords, thousands of devotees pulled these two chariots today. By 11am, they had reached the Saradhabali in front of Gundicha, also known as the Mausima temple.
Once the chariots reached the temple, thousands of devotees queued up to see the deities. The deities would be taken into the temple in a ceremonial procession tomorrow.
In another development, the state government announced that the two women who died on Grand Road and another person who drowned in the sea yesterday would be provided the insurance sum due to them after getting reports from the police and the hospital authorities.
Two women had died in two separate alleged stampedes at Marichkote Square and near Hindi School Square on Grand Road when the Taladhwaj was pulled yesterday. Around 10 people were injured in these two incidents.
However, director general of police Sanjeev Marik denied that the deaths were caused by stampede and pointed out that there were no external injury marks on the bodies.
"As there were no injury marks on the bodies, which normally happens in such incidents, we cannot claim that the deaths were because of stampede. The reason of the deaths would be known after post-mortem," he said.
However, eyewitnesses said there was a stampede when the Taladhwaj moved. "We saw the crowd trying to move away when the chariot approached and they crushed some people under them," said an eyewitness near Marichkote lane.
The two women who died have been identified as Sushila Samantray of Pattamundai in Kendrapara district and Nirmala Baral of Nayagarh district. The man who drowned in the sea has been as Sunanda Rout, 35, of Keonjhar district.
Of the injured, six critically injured persons, including a woman, are being treated at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Of them, four are in the intensive care unit (ICU), said the emergency officer of the hospital.
Chief administrator of Jagannath temple Suresh Mohapatra said the festival had been insured for 15 days and relatives of the people who die within the Puri Municipality limits in incidents such as stampede or drowning or exhaustion would get Rs 5 lakh each.
"We are waiting for reports of the police and the hospital authorities. The close relatives would get the insurance amount based on the reports," said Mohapatra.
The state government is also bearing the medical expenses of the injured.
