Vaishno Devi Shrine Stampede: 12 Killed, 16 Injured. Probe Panel Asked To Submit Report In One Week

The panel has been constituted by the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha following the incident atop the Trikuta hills in Reasi district that killed 12 devotees and over a dozen sustained injuries.

Vaishno Devi Shrine Stampede: 12 Killed, 16 Injured. (File Image)

New Delhi: A three-member committee has been formed to probe the stampede incident at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine on Saturday.

The panel has been constituted by the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha following the incident atop the Trikuta hills in Reasi district that killed 12 devotees and over a dozen sustained injuries.

The committee, that is headed by the principal secretary (home) and comprises Jammu Divisional Commissioner Raghav Langer and Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, Mukesh Singh, has been asked to submit its probe report to the Jammu and Kashmir administration within a week.

"The Committee shall examine in detail the causes/reasons behind the incident (stampede) and point out the lapses and fix the responsibility thereof," the order said.

Among the deceased, seven are from Uttar Pradesh, three from Delhi and one each from Haryana and J-K.

They have been identified as Arun Pratab Singh (30), Dharam Veer Singh (35), Vineet Kumar (38), Shewata Singh (35), Mohinder Gour (26), Narinder Kashap (40) and Monu Sharma (32) of Uttar Pradesh, Vinay Kumar (24), Sonu Panday (24) and Akash Kumar (29) of Delhi, Mamta (38) of Haryana and Desraj Kumar (26) of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a statement issued by the Shrine Board, the Saturday stampede occurred due to a scuffle between two groups of pilgrims. “In this ill-fated incident, a total of 12 pilgrims lost their lives and 16 others were injured," said the statement, emphasising only 35,000 pilgrims were allowed to proceed for the yatra against the normal capacity of 50,000 in view of the pandemic.

Earlier, the police had said that most of the pilgrims died due to suffocation.