A businessman from south Assam’s Hailakandi was killed in the stampede at the Sangam area of the Mahakumbh on Wednesday as pilgrims swarmed to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya.
Niti Paul, 63, the owner of a popular sweet shop — Om Sweets — in Hailakandi town, had travelled by train to Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Niti went there as a part of a 32-member team, including 22 family members and relatives, to participate in the amrit snan (holy dip) on Wednesday during the ongoing Mahakumbh, which has seen congregations of crores of devotees since it started on January 16.
The deceased’s younger brother, Tapash Paul, said that his brother was at ghat number 151 and he was at ghat number 480 when the incident took place.
“We could not reach the mishap site because of the security barricades. It took us five hours to reach the mishap site because of the heavy rush. We heard that he was trapped under the weight of people who kept falling on him. We could not save him. We will try to cremate him here because it is a trithastan,” a distraught Tapash, told The Telegraph.
The administration has arranged to transport the deceased’s body to Hailakandi by road, police said.
However, Tapash said that it will not be wise to take the body via road because of the distance and the condition of the ambulance.
“We were hoping that the body will be airlifted, but subsequently came to know that it will sent by road,” he said.
The distance between Allahabad to Hailakandi is about 1564 km.
Niti’s wife, Gayatri, was with him when the stampede broke out. A video of Gayatri showed her telling the media about frantically calling the police for help as Niti and over 100 others got swarmed by devotees who thronged the mishap site.
“No policemen were there. We called them several times,” she was heard saying in the video.
Niti was taken to the hospital where he died, a report said. Nobody else from the family was injured.
A hailakandi resident said: “He (Niti) was liked by all. The family runs several successful businesses. Nitiji used to hold a annual kirtan during the winter. The sweet shop remained closed today. Since the confirmation came late, the market is likely to remain close on Thursday,” he said.
The Hailakandi resident also said that the only son of the deceased, Subho Paul, is leaving for Prayagraj from Guwahati on Thursday for the cremation.