Kolkata: Police averted a stampede-like situation at a popular Kali temple in north Kolkata on Sunday evening, as thousands of devotees gathered on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya during the holy month of Magh.
A senior police official said the gates of the Maa Shyamasundari Kali Temple in the Amherst Street area were temporarily closed after a heavy rush built up over a limited stretch of land, with devotees seeking entry into the sanctum sanctorum for darshan and puja.
“We have deployed personnel and stopped the entry of devotees for the time being. We will assess the situation before allowing parts of the crowd to move inside in phases,” the police official said.
Devotees had been queuing since morning, but as the crowd swelled in the afternoon, a scramble ensued when the temple doors opened, prompting the temple authorities to alert the Amherst Street police station and seek deployment of personnel.
“We had no other option to avert a stampede-like situation and had to close the doors abruptly while some devotees were inside the temple,” a spokesperson of the temple committee said.
The police officer rejected a claim by a section of the devotees that force was used to keep the devotees away.
Rita Koyal, a woman from Barrackpore in the northern suburbs, said, “We will not leave the area until we have darshan of the goddess. I came with my son and husband around 11.30 am to pray on the auspicious occasion of Mauni Amavasya.” Traffic movement on the road near the temple was regulated to manage the situation, officials said.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
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