The Andhra Pradesh Government has ordered an inquiry into the tragic stampede at Tirupati where six devotees were killed and over 30 suffered injuries. A former High Court Judge, Satyanarayana Murthy, has been given the task of conducting the justice inquiry and submitting a detailed report within six months.
It happened on January 8 when the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam was distributing Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam tokens. This incident has evoked much public and devotee outrage, who point to mismanagement and lack of proper crowd control at the event.
In response to the tragedy, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced the formation of a Judicial Inquiry on January 9, and the official Government Order (GO) was issued on Wednesday. While the government took initial action by suspending a few officers, many have criticized these measures as insufficient. Opposition parties and activists have demanded the removal of key TTD officials, including TTD Chairman BR Naidu, Executive Officer Shyamala Rao, and JEO Venkaiah Choudhary. However, no action has yet been taken against them.
Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan also expressed his regret over the incident, taking responsibility for the mishap and urging TTD officials to issue a public apology. Unfortunately, his requests were not addressed.
