Heavy rush of devotees at the ISKCON temple in Patna on the occasion of the Janmashtami festival created a stampede-like situation on Monday evening, a police officer said.
A few devotees might have suffered minor injuries, while the police brought the situation under control quickly, Patna SSP Rajeev Mishra told reporters.
“A huge number of devotees thronged the ISKCON temple on the occasion of Janmashtami festival in the evening. An adequate number of security personnel had already been deployed there. We engaged more personnel when the situation turned chaotic as the devotees tried to outpace one another. It was a tough time for the security personnel. The situation was, however, immediately brought under control. It was not a full-blown stampede,” Mishra said.
Watch: At the ISKCON Temple in Patna, a huge crowd of devotees gathered for Janmashtami. The police faced challenges in managing the crowd and had to use minimal force to control the situation. They are actively working to regulate the influx of people pic.twitter.com/bLIQ5awQVn
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Video clips that went viral on social media showed security personnel trying to control the onrushing devotees at the temple. A few of them fell on the ground and they were helped by the security personnel.
“The situation is completely under control. Our top priority is to manage the rush of devotees first. Women security personnel have also been deployed in large numbers,” said the SSP.