Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Mystery shrouded the death of a man at Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj on January 29 when a stampede led to the death of 30 people. The family members of the man, a resident of Gwalior, claimed that he had died in the stampede. They also alleged that the police in the Mela forced them to sign a document that the man identified as 50-year-old Kamta Pal died of heart attack.
The man’s kin claimed that they took the body to the medical college in their own vehicle as no ambulance was available. The deceased has been identified as Kamta Prasad Pal (50) of Tekanpur village under Dabra police station of Gwalior district.
His cousin Man Singh Baghel said seven members of their family have gone to Maha Kumbh for holy dip at Sangam on Mauni Amavasya on January 28.
‘We were taking rest near Sangam Ghat in the night on January 29 when suddenly a large crowd approached after crossing the barricade. We immediately moved but Kamta Pal who was obese failed to lift himself up and was run over by hundreds of people. We rescued him and dragged him away but he had died by then. We took the body to Akhada police station on our shoulders where policemen asked us to take the body to the Medical College for autopsy,’ Baghel claimed.
Baghel further claimed that after post-mortem, they reached Akhada police station where cops asked us to sign on a paper in which it was mentioned that Kamta Pal was staying at Manirwani Akhada and died of illness on January 29. Kamta Pal used to run an electronics shop and is survived by wife and two children. Baghel claimed that the family should be provided with compensation as he died in the stampede at Maha Kumbh.
