‘Act Of God’: Builder Of Andhra Temple Claims No One Is Responsible For Stampede That Killed 9

Ninety-four-year-old Hari Mukund Panda from Odisha, who built the Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Kasibugga town, said on Saturday that no one was responsible for the stampede that killed nine

people, including a child, and injured over a dozen others.

Andhra Pradesh Police sources told CNN-News18 that Panda and members of the temple management have been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act for alleged negligence in handling the event.

Officials in the Andhra Pradesh government told CNN-News18 that the organisers did not seek official permissions for the gathering and failed to anticipate such a large turnout. A state minister said that while the temple can typically accommodate between 3,000 and 5,000 devotees, over 25,000 people had assembled on the auspicious occasion of Kartika Ekadashi.

Government sources also said the temple was privately built and not under the control of the Endowments Department. The area where the devotees had gathered was still under construction, and with the entry and exit points being the same, the crowd crush became far more intense.

However, Panda described the tragedy as an “act of god”. Speaking to the Times of India, he said, “Nobody is responsible — it was an act of god.”

Srikakulam Superintendent of Police KV Maheswara Reddy said the chaos began when a six-foot iron railing collapsed during the temple’s Ekadashi celebrations, triggering a sudden rush among devotees. “It was not a stampede but an accident. A six-foot railing gave way, and that led to the tragic situation,” Reddy told CNN-News18.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the temple authorities had failed to inform the police about the event. “If they had informed us, security arrangements could have been made to manage the crowd,” he said. “Because of overcrowding, nine people died and five others were injured.” Naidu added that the incident would be taken very seriously and those responsible would be taken into custody immediately.