Candidates, who were forced to spend the night on the road, made a dash to the exam hall when gates opened early in the morning. Over 20 youths were injured in a major stampede outside the Naval base INS Hamla in Malad
Candidates alleged that the Navy hadn’t arranged for basic facilities like food and water. Most of them were forced to sleep on the roads. Pics/ Satej Shinde
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Over 20 youths were injured in a major stampede outside the Naval base INS Hamla in Malad early this morning. Around 3,000 young men had gathered at the site for the Indian Navy’s recruitment rally.
The candidates, all aged between 18 and 20, had been waiting outside the gate all through the night, to appear for the Senior Secondary Recruit (SSR) examination today. When the gates opened at 6.30 am, everyone ran to catch the first place. A huge stampede followed, where several candidates fell down and were trampled upon. While no major injury was reported, many of the applicants were severely bruised in the melee.
According to sources, around 20 candidates were injured in the stampede with bruises and cuts. At the time of going to press, no major injury was reported.
Candidates travelled all the way from Ahmednagar, Solapur, Marathwada and other remote areas to appear for the examination.
Despite knowing that thousands of candidates were going to appear for the examination, the Navy hadn’t even arranged for basic facilities like water or food. “I came all the way from Solapur for the examination, but the condition here is pathetic. We didn’t even have a drop of water to drink and had to go into the bushes to defecate,” said Yogesh Joshi (name changed), a candidate, who reached the naval base on Thursday night for the written examination.
When this mid-day reporter visited the site at around 2 am on Friday, the condition at the spot was disturbing. All the candidates had to sleep on the roads, and were forced to relieve themselves in the nearby bushes. There was just one water tank provided for the candidates, which incidentally was running dry. “One tank isn’t enough for thousands of candidates. Also, since the naval base is right inside, we need to walk at least 2km just for water,” said a candidate.
Candidates, who were forced to sleep on the road, claimed that they had a very disturbed sleep. “We couldn’t sleep due to the mosquitoes,” a 19-year-old said.
They also alleged that they were threatened and abused by the guards, who in the middle of night, directed them to a compound in the vicinity. In fact, one of the guards threatened the candidates in the presence of a mid-day reporter.
While shooing off candidates sitting on the road to the compound, he said, “Marna hai toh waha jake mar. (If you want to die, go and die there).”
When contacted, Rahul Sinha, defence spokesperson said, “We were expecting a good response from volunteers. However, the response was overwhelming and crowd control created a bit of confusion (in the early hours), which was subsequently handled very efficiently by the local police and Navy officials.”
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