Rights body seeks report on Puri stampede

The Orissa Human Right Commission has sought a report from the state government on the stampede during the annual Ratha Yatra (Chariot festival) at Puri in which six people were killed and ten others injured, a commission official said Friday.

The division bench of the commission, comprising chairman justice RK Patra, and members Sudhansu Mohan Patnaik and Himadri Mohapatra, has asked state home secretary TK Mishra to submit a report on the incident within the next four weeks, the commission official told IANS.

The stampede occurred when devotees tried to get close to one of the three chariots, which was being taken across the temple city, about 65 km from state capital Bhubaneswar on July 4.

The commission sought the details after coming across reports appearing in various newspapers after the incident, the official said.