24 killed, over 60 hurt in varanasi stampede

VARANASI: At least 24 persons, including 14 women, were crushed to death and 60 injured in a stampede during a religious procession here on Saturday, police said. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered a magisterial probe into the incident even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi expressed grief over the incident. The stampede occurred at around 1.30 p.m. at the Rajghat bridge in the Ramnagar area, as thousands of people, who had turned up at a religious congregation organised by disciples of the late spiritual leader Jai Gurudev, took out a procession. Ramanagar police station incharge Anil Kumar Singh said that 24 people were killed in the stampede and over 60 injured. However, state Director General of Police Javeed Ahmed said the death toll was 20. The toll may rise as the condition of several of the injured is said to be critical. The identities of the deceased are yet to be ascertained. “Raja”, “Prince”, “Tinny”, “Tony”, “Manshu”, “Vishu” and “Monu” may sound like run-of-the-mill nicknames that are found in every other middle-class household in Uttar Pradesh.

But names like these are suddenly becoming more important than the first names and surnames in the state universities and colleges in Uttar Pradesh where elections to students’ unions are being held over the next few weeks.

A new fad has developed