After a stampede near the Mansa Devi temple in Haridwar killed eight people on Sunday morning, the police have filed a report against unknown individuals for spreading rumors about a broken electrical wire, which likely triggered a panic and led to the tragedy.
The report, filed on Sunday, is based on the statement of SI Sanjeet Kandari, the officer in charge of the Har Ki Pauri police outpost. He described the incident after receiving information from Head Constable Sandeep Kapoor, who was on duty at the Mansa Devi temple. He noted that the crowd of devotees near the pedestrian stairway had become uncontrollable, creating a situation similar to a stampede.
After getting this information, the complainant said he left for the stairway to the Mansa Devi temple. “We took a cable car to the site. About 20 to 25 meters from the entrance gate to the Mansa Devi stairway at Charan Paduka, towards Ram Prasad Gali, we saw chaos at the scene. Many people were lying injured and unconscious. Officers on duty were helping the injured and told us that some had already been sent for treatment via cable cars,” the complaint stated.
When we spoke to locals and nearby devotees about the incident, they reported that at around 8:40 am, an unknown person claimed that electric current was running through the area. This rumor caused panic, leading the devotees to start running and resulting in the stampede, the complaint added.
The complaint assigned blame to the “rumor,” stating that the incident occurred on the stairway to the Mansa Devi temple and was caused by false information spread by unknown persons among the crowd, claiming that an electrical wire had broken. This left people in panic, resulting in a stampede. “It is important to file a case under the relevant sections against those who spread this rumor,” the complaint said. The FIR was filed under Sections 353(3), 125(A), 125(B), and 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Haridwar Kotwali police station.
