Digvijay Singh blames police for temple stampede

BHOPAL: Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh has blamed the police for the stampede near Ratangarh Temple in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district.

At least 115 people were killed and over 100 injured in the stampede near the temple yesterday, which was triggered by rumours that the bridge the devotees were crossing was about to collapse.

Singh, in a tweet last night, alleged that the "police was charging Rs 200 from every tractor to allow them entry into the no-traffic zone."

"Is this what they call good governance in Madhya Pradesh?" he asked.

He said the BJP-led state government had learnt no lesson from the tragedy at the same spot in 2006.

Over 56 pilgrims had been washed away at the same site in 2006 after water was released in the Sindh river from upstream.

After the 2006 tragedy, the state government had constructed a bridge over the river, but the mishap took place on it allegedly due to poor mismanagement of the crowd that gathered in lakhs from the nearby districts and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress leader expressed his grief over the tragedy.