Puri Rath Yatra Stampede: Collector, SP transferred; Majhi announces Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia- Top Developments

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A tragic stampede occurred during the ongoing Jagannath Rath Yatra in Odisha's Puri on Sunday morning that killed at least three devotees and injured over 50 others. The state government has ordered a high-level probe in this incident.

The stampede occurred around 4 AM near the Gundicha Temple, an important site in the annual religious procession. Thousands of devotees had gathered to witness the ceremonial unveiling of the deities on their chariots.

Top developments:

• CM Mohan Majhi transferred District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain and SP Vineet Agrawal after the incident. The CM appointed Khurda District Collector Chanchal Rana as the new collector of Puri. Agrawal will be replaced by Pinak Mishra as Puri SP. He also announced the suspension of two police officers,  DCP Bishnu Pati and Commandant Ajay Padhi.
• The state government will provide financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased, according to the govt's press release.
• Additionally, senior bureaucrat Aravind Agarwal has been appointed as in-charge of the overall supervision of Rath Yatra.  He has earlier managed the Rath Yatra. Currently, he is serving as the commissioner-cum-secretary in the Higher Education Department with additional charge of Special Secretary to Sports and Youth Affairs Department.
• Puri's titular king Gajapati Maharaja Divyasingha Deb, who is also the chairman of the Shree Jagannath Temple Managing Committee (SJTMC), appealed to the Odisha government to immediately carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the incident.
• According to eyewitnesses, the situation spiraled out of control when two trucks carrying sacred Charamala wood entered the Saradhabali area, triggering panic among the crowd.
• Several people pointed to mismanagement, including the creation of a separate entrance for VIPs, which disrupted the usual flow of pilgrims. Some locals reported that devotees were being asked to exit from distant gates, but many attempted to leave through the main entrance, intensifying the congestion.
• Senior servitor of the Puri Jagannath Temple, Ramakrishna Das Mahapatra, expressed sorrow over the loss of lives and called upon the administration to ensure better crowd management in the future.
• Former Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik also expressed condolences and criticized the current administration, citing a "complete failure" in crowd management.