Andhra shrine sealed after stampede, founder held

VISHAKHAPATNAM/VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh police sealed Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kasibugga of Srikakulam district and barred public entry Sunday, a day after nine devotees were killed in a stampede at the newly built shrine, report Nalla Babu & Srikrishna Kummara.

District police chief KV Maheswara Reddy said the temple would remain closed indefinitely. The bodies of the victims were handed over to families after autopsies, while two critically injured devotees remain under treatment and are stable.

Officers said the Kasibugga shrine - a private establishment - had been operating for months without required approvals or safety clearances. The temple's 94-year-old founder Hari Mukunda Panda has been placed under house arrest, and police are questioning other organisers for negligence. "Though we appealed to devotees to follow queue lines for darshan, they surged forward, leading to the tragedy," Panda said Sunday.

An SIT has been formed to probe safety lapses and fix responsibility. One gate served both entry and exit, poor crowd control, and lack of official clearance were blamed for the stampede. Officers alleged the organisers didn't seek permission for police deployment to control the crowd.

The crush began when an iron railing collapsed on a narrow staircase, causing panic in a crowd of over 20,000 gathered for Karthika Ekadashi .