Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has announced Rs 25 lakh compensation for the families of those who died in a stampede in Tirupati on Wednesday night as thousands gathered to get tickets for a sacred event. The announcement was made by the State Revenue Minister Angani Satya Prasad and comes after a group of ministers visited Tirupati to meet the families of the deceased and those injured in the incident.
Besides Prasad, Home Minister Anitha, Endowments Minister Anam Rama Narayana Reddy, and other senior officials visited Ruia Hospital on Thursday morning to inspect the bodies. They also met the families of the deceased and announced a thorough probe into the incident.
AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said he would order a judicial inquiry into the stampede incident, besides transferring three senior officials including Tirupati Superintendent of Police Subbarayudu.
Addressing a press conference, Naidu said he has ordered the suspension of two officials, including a DSP, for their dereliction.
He further said he noticed some loopholes or leakages in the administration and monitoring mechanisms in Tirupati which should have been 'perfect'.
Earlier, Naidu chaired a high-level review meeting over the incident in Amaravati with the Director General of Police Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer (EO) and other senior officials.
Later, the officials submitted a report on the Tirupati incident to Naidu. The report stated that the stampede took place due to the sudden arrival of devotees due to the DSP's overzealousness.
Naidu, who reached Tirupati from Amaravati in the afternoon, inspected the stampede areas. After learning about the incident, the CM reprimanded the officials including the TTD EO and Tirupati Collector Dr. Venkateswar S. He questioned the arrangement and preparedness for issuing tickets despite a huge rush of devotees, sources said.
The CM also expressed outrage at TTD Joint Executive Officer (JEO) Gauthami and questioned what relief measures were taken after the stampede. Naidu also reprimanded the JEO for not giving orders to the staff on time. He directed the officials to take precautions to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, sources added.
Following the incident, two cases have been registered in the Tirupati East Police Station regarding the incident. Six devotees have died so far in the stampede incident, while 48 more are undergoing treatment at Ruia and SWIMS. Among the deceased are five women and one man.
Among the deceased are Boddeti Naidubabu (51), a resident of Narsipatnam in Anakapalle district, Rajini (47), Lavanya (40), Shanti (34) from Visakhapatnam, Nirmala (50) from Bellary in Karnataka, and a woman named Malliga (49) from Salem.
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