Muzaffarnagar/Haridwar, Jul 20 (PTI) Six pilgrims were killed and nearly 20 injured in road accidents as the rush of kanwariyas significantly increased on Sunday on the Kanwar Yatra routes, especially the Delhi-Dehradun highway and the Ganga Canal road, during the final leg of the pilgrimage.
Thousands of kanwariyas (Lord Shiva devotees), heading back from Haridwar in Uttarakhand with ‘Gangajal, were greeted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with a helicopter showering flowers on them in Muzaffarnagar.
Authorities have implemented tight security measures along the Kanwar Yatra routes. The Yatra concludes on July 23, when the pilgrims will return home after offering the holy water from the Ganges at Shiva temples on their way.
As he welcomed the pilgrims, CM Adityanath claimed that some people were trying to defame the Kanwar Yatra on social media and urged every ‘Kanwar Sangh’ to expose such troublemakers.
Addressing an event, Adityanath said, “Troublemakers have resorted to defame this holy pilgrimage… We have CCTV footage of all of them. We are going to paste their posters after this (Kanwar Yatra) is over.”
He added, “We have to keep in mind that where there is enthusiasm and excitement, where there is faith and devotion, some elements are constantly trying to disturb that enthusiasm and to defame this devotion and faith.”
Adityanath also showered flowers on the kanwariyas from a stage built near Dulhera Chowki in Meerut’s Modipuram area.
“From tomorrow, lakhs of Shiv devotees from various states of the country will carry water in the form of kanwar and perform ‘jalabhishek’ in various Shiv temples. On this occasion, I heartily welcome all the Shiv devotees who are bringing holy Gangajal from Haridwar,” the chief minister said.
Rajya Sabha MP Laxmikant Bajpai and UP’s Minister of State Somendra Tomar shared the stage with him.
Meanwhile, three kanwariyas were arrested for allegedly assaulting a CRPF jawan following an argument over train tickets at the Mirzapur railway station, an official said on Sunday.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was going to catch the Brahmaputra Express, while the kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) also wanted to buy tickets for the same train to go to Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand. An argument broke out between them over purchasing the tickets.
Government Railway Police (GRP) Inspector Raghavendra Singh said the GRP jawans deployed on the spot tried to control the situation and subsequently, more force was sent to help the CRPF jawan.
The CRPF jawan was going to Manipur for his duty, the GRP said, and added that they facilitated his journey in the Brahmaputra Express.
The GRP registered a case against the kanwariyas under sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the BNS and the Railway Act.
Later, the kanwariyas were released on bail, the GRP said.
Two kawariyas were killed and eight others seriously injured in two separate road accidents on the Delhi-Haridwar National Highway in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Sunday.
A kawariya identified as Abhishek (28), a resident of Kairana, died and four others were injured after two motorcycles collided near Barla bridge under Chhapar police station late Saturday night, they said.
The accident occurred when Abhishek and his friend Manish Kataria were en route to Haridwar from Kairana to collect water from the Ganga River.
In a separate incident, another kawariya identified as Anil (23) died and four others were injured after a collision between two motorcycles near the Saleempur bypass.
SHO Jaivir Singh said Anil and his friend Ghanshyam were heading to Haridwar from Noida to collect Ganga water when their bike collided with another motorcycle.
In Ghaziabad, a speeding ambulance collided head-on with a motorcycle and a scooty, leaving three kanwariyas dead and another injured, police said on Sunday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Rural, Surendra Nath Tiwari said the accident occurred in front of a restaurant on the Delhi-Meerut Road near Kadrabra at around 11.45 pm on Saturday.
The four kanwariyas were going to Haridwar while the ambulance was coming from the opposite direction after dropping a patient at a hospital in Meerut.
Tiwari said the deceased have been identified as Ritik (23), Abhinav (25) and Sachin (38), all residents of Ghaziabad. The injured person has been identified as Ajay (30).
The ambulance has been seized and the driver has been arrested.
Anti-sabotage teams have intensified the checking of commuters and belongings at the Bhurahedi checkpost on the Delhi-Dehradun National Highway limits to prevent any untoward incident during the ongoing Kanwar Yatra, the officials said.
The police said the number of Kanwar pilgrims has significantly increased on the Delhi-Dehradun highway and the Ganga Canal road.
In Uttarakhand’s New Tehri, 14 kanwariyas were injured while returning from Gangotri when their truck overturned, the police said.
According to police, the kanwariyas had come from Haryana and were returning after collecting Ganga water.
The accident occurred near Vaildhar on the Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway. Four of the injured were in critical condition, Chham Police Station Head Sukhpal Maan said.
In Odisha, a pick-up van collided with an autorickshaw carrying kanwariyas on Sunday morning near Darapada in Nayagarh district. A female kanwariya died, and six others were injured in the accident. The kanwariyas were travelling from Kantilo to Ladubaba temple, the police said.
“Seven persons injured in the autorickshaw accident have been admitted to our hospital. Of which one died while six seriously injured persons have been referred to Bhubaneswar,” said a doctor of Nayagarh district headquarters hospital.
Meanwhile, in UP’s Meerut, some women volunteers have accused three policemen of indecent behaviour at a kanwar seva camp on the Ganga Canal bridge in Sardhana area, a police officer said on Sunday.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) of Meerut Rakesh Kumar Mishra, in a statement, said that in their examination of the CCTV footage retrieved from the spot, no objectionable activity was revealed.
According to the complainants, a constable and two PAC jawans allegedly misbehaved with them late Saturday evening. The three also made a video on their mobile and verbally abused them, it was alleged.
The volunteers at the camp caught the three and handed them over to officers at a nearby police post. They alleged that the police post in-charge let the three men leave without any legal action.
Angry people sat on a dharna on the police post’s premises and demanded the suspension of the culprits, leading to the intervention of officials of the tehsil administration.