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Journalism of Courage
With poor crowd management at gate numbers 3 and 4 of Wankhede stadium, several people, who were eager to watch the swearing-in ceremony, were left disappointed. Gate number 4 witnessed the worst management with police personnel failing to control huge crowds. Gate four, which leads to the north and the Sachin Tendulkar stands, was only manned by 12 policemen, and a few Riot Control Police personnel.
Around 3.30 pm, the police closed the gates, saying that the stadium had reached its capacity. While some left, others stayed on, adding to the crowd outside. At 4 pm, police inspector Hemant Rade received a wireless message from the police control room, permitting him to let the public enter, regardless of whether they had passes. The gates were opened once again, which led to instant chaos. The crowd, including women and children, surged forward, and many lost their footwear in the chaos.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramesh Poman, who was on duty at gate 4, said after the wireless message was received, people were only checked for their IDs and not passes.
Things were similarly mismanaged at gate 3, where many VIPs turned up as they were confused which gate to enter from, and had to shuttle between gates 3 and 4.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Vasant Dhobale was seen overseeing the bandobast at gate 3, driving away those who were blocking the gate.
Police personnel stationed at gate 2 faced the twin challenges of ensuring security for VVIPs, as well as keeping the traffic moving at the busy Marine Drive. Gate 2 is located on D-Road of the Marine Drive, right in the middle of the road from where several vehicles pass daily. Cars and buses bringing in people to attend the ceremony only added to the load. Police personnel were also stationed on the divider in front of the barricades as well as on the footpath across the street, with a long line of policemen stretching to either side of the footpath. “Even a single vehicle stopping on this road for more than three to five seconds can cause the traffic to start backing up, and we cannot afford to have that in front of the gate where the PM’s convoy will enter,” said a constable.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Ravindra Shisve and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Colaba division) Rajendra Chavan were overseeing the bandobast outside the barricades, while Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Dhananjay Kamalakar was managing security on the other side of the barricades, leading to the stadium’s entrance from gate 2. Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria and Joint Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar reached gate 2 shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy entered around 4.05 pm, and a mixed group of policemen and commandos stationed themselves outside the gate.
Around 4.40 pm, a group of protesters from the Ambedkar Centre for Justice and Peace came marching, shouting slogans against the Modi government, to protest the killings of three members of a Dalit family in Ahmednagar. Policemen, including Shisve, rushed to stop them and after a short scuffle, they were herded into two police vans and taken to the Marine Drive police station.
The Prime Ministerial convoy left around 5.15 pm and by this time, a large crowd had gathered on either side of the gate, with policemen holding them back. Modi waved through his car’s translucent window, amid cheering crowds who clicked his photographs.
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