Panel members begin probe into Kumbh stampede

A three-member judicial commission began its investigation into the Maha Kumbh stampede on Friday as state authorities separately started probing if other such incidents took place at the mega religious festival on the same day, officials aware of the matter said.

- Kenneth John

The panel, headed by retired Allahabad high court judge Harsh Kumar and comprising retired IPS officer VK Gupta and retired IAS officer DK Singh, reached Sangam, where at least 30 people were killed in a predawn stampede on Wednesday.

Maha Kumbh Nagar's deputy inspector general (DIG) Vaibhav Krishna, who accompanied the panel along with mela incharge Vijay Kiran Anand and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajesh Dwivedi, said officials were scanning CCTV footage from Wednesday to see if other disasters also occurred at the ghat, which might have gone unreported.

"We have CCTV cameras installed throughout the mela area. We are analysing the footage and all the places are being identified, where there was information about a stampedelike situation," he said.

The DIG's remarks came amid witnesses saying that people might have been crushed at other sites apart from the one at Sangam. HT reported on January 31 that hours after the Sangam disaster, there was another stampede-like situation about 3km away at Jhusi in Sector 21, leading to the deaths of at least seven people.