Kalkaji temple electrocution: More precaution, but no arrests so far

A day after a 17-year-old boy was electrocuted at a crowded Kalkaji temple complex in south Delhi, resulting in a stampede that left six people wounded, the Delhi Police on Friday said they have asked the temple management and organisers of Navratri celebrations to insulate all loose wires and take other measures to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.
“We have asked the organisers to insulate all open wires with plastic pipes in the temple’s premise after our initial investigation into the electrocution death case suggested that the electric wire — being used to install halogen floodlights at the temple as part of the arrangements for Navratri — broke off after someone from the crowd accidentally pulled it due to rush in the queue. It then came in contact with the iron railing being used to manage queues of devotees, resulting in the teenager’s death,” said a senior police officer associated with the case.
Mayank Sharma was in the queue, around 200 metres inside the temple premises from the Ram Pyau entry gate. After suffering the electric shock, Sharma was taken to Safdarjung hospital where he was declared brought dead. The incident that took place at around 12.30am on Thursday — at a time when the temple was packed with devotees on the first day of Navratri — had led to a stampede, injuring six other people, all of whom were hospitalised and discharged after treatment, police said.
Meanwhile, police identified the contractor and the electrician who had installed the decorative lights at the temple. However, no arrests were made in the case till late Friday evening.
Additionally, police have also asked the organisers of the Navratri celebration to provide their volunteers with labelled reflective jackets for easy identification at the time of assistance in crowd control, senior police officers said.
On Friday afternoon, HT visited the temple premises and found that the spot where the tragedy took place was not cordoned off with crime scene tapes – which is usually done to secure the crime spot. A policeman was present there who said that the live electric wire that caused the electrocution was removed by the investigating team and seized for forensic examination. Several police personnel were found deployed along the iron railings to manage queues of devotees and regulate their entry and exit at the temple. Besides, 500 police personnel were deployed in and around the temple for law and order and traffic management duties.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Harsh Indora, who was present at the temple to monitor security and law and order arrangements, said that 64 CCTV cameras were installed in and around the temple and two control rooms have been set up to monitor live footage of the cameras.
“As per the security arrangement plan, four entry and exit gates have been made to regulate the flow of devotees and avoid overcrowding. All gates are equipped with door frame metal detectors (DFMDs) and security personnel have also been deployed for searching and frisking of visitors,” said Indora.
On the directed measures, a temple committee member said, “We started working on the police directions this morning itself. We are also issuing new identity cards to the volunteers along with reflective jackets. These volunteers will work under the supervision of Delhi police.”
The incident, meanwhile, impacted footfall at the temple on Friday. Local shopkeepers and volunteers said that they believed that the dip in crowd could be due to the electrocution and the subsequent stampede.
“Even on normal days the crowd at the temple is higher than what we are witnessing today. The footfall increases on Navratri days. It seems that devotees are avoiding visiting the temple after reading and watching news about the mishap in newspapers and news channels. Our business is impacted due to the lesser footfall,” said a local shopkeeper, who refused to identify himself.