A tragic stampede at the Baba Sidheshwar Nath temple in Bihar’s Jehanabad district claimed the lives of seven devotees, including three women, on the night of Saturday. The incident occurred during a consecration event on Baravar hills, leading to injuries for at least 35 others. Reports suggest the stampede was allegedly triggered by volunteers using force to manage the crowd, though authorities have denied any negligence.
Jehanabad’s Town Inspector, Diwakar Kumar Vishwakarma, confirmed that seven bodies had been brought to the Jehanabad Post-mortem House. The stampede took place during the annual holy month of Shravan, a time when devotees gather in large numbers at the temple. Heartbreaking scenes from Jehanabad showed grieving families mourning their loved ones and the injured receiving treatment at Makhdumpur and Sadar hospitals.
Eyewitnesses at the temple claimed that inadequate arrangements by the administration contributed to the chaos. A relative of one of the victims alleged that National Cadet Corps (NCC) volunteers, responsible for crowd control, used ‘lathis’ on the devotees, sparking the deadly stampede. “There was no one from the administration present when the fight broke out involving a flower-seller, leading to the lathi-charge,” another devotee stated, expressing concerns that the death toll could rise further.
However, Vikash Kumar, the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Jehanabad, dismissed these claims, asserting that the volunteers did not resort to using lathis. “Nothing of that sort occurred. This was an unfortunate incident despite the strict vigilance and adequate arrangements, including NCC forces, civil deputations, and medical teams. More details will be available after the post-mortem,” he said.
District Magistrate Alankrita Pandey further clarified that the stampede was a result of a dispute among kanwariyas, which escalated into a scuffle. The local administration remains firm in its stance that there was no use of force by volunteers in managing the crowd.
