1 dead, 10 hurt in stampede during police recruitment at Kalina

A 25-year-old man was killed and 10 others injured in a stampede at Kalina police ground during a police recruitment drive on Monday, report Rachna Pratihar and Shahkar Abidi.

A 25-year-old man was killed and 10 others injured in a stampede at Kalina police ground during a police recruitment drive on Monday.

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The victim, Ramesh Ambre, had come to the city from Akola.

The incident took place at 6.15 am, soon after the gates of the police ground opened to allow applicants in. “Applicants who were behind started pushing and jumped the queue, leading to the stampede,” said Amitabh Gupta, additional commissioner of police, west region.

People had come from across the state to apply for the 3,500 openings for the post of constable.

“There were around 30,000 applicants, some of them were standing on the boundary wall to jump the queue,” said Sagar Thothre (20), an applicant who came from Solapur.

The incident was triggered by the shifting of the submission counter. “The police shifted the counters to the side that had more shade. Applicants started running and 17-18 men fell into a drain that passes through the ground,” said a Kalyan resident, who had queued up, requesting anonymity.

Vinayak Chavan (19), another Kalyan resident, who sustained injuries on his hand, said: “Youngsters from rural areas broke the queue.”

Home Minister R.R. Patil said the state would give compensation to Ambre’s family but did not specify the amount.

Mumbai police commissioner D. Sivanandhan said an inquiry would be conducted. “It is an unfortunate incident; it was not anybody’s mistake,” he said.