A policeman stands guard as pilgrims walk through a bridge across the Sindh River in Datia in Madhya Pradesh where over 100 people died in a stampede on Sunday (AFP)
The morning after 21 officials were suspended for failing to prevent a stampede near a temple that left over 100 people killed, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted, "I would urge people to wait for the facts to emerge on completion of the enquiry and not to jump to conclusions based on rumours."
(115 killed in Madhya Pradesh temple stampede, politicians wage war of words)His health warning came as some survivors alleged that the police looted pilgrims in the midst of the stampede which erupted on a bridge near the famous Ratangarh temple in the Datia district of the state on Sunday.
On a hospital bed today, a woman pointed to her bare ears and claimed that as people tried to escape being crushed on a narrow bridge, men in uniform snatched her earrings, mangalsutra and anklets.
Another woman claims that she saw men in khaki fling bodies off the bridge into the flowing Sindh river below. "I saw them throw children into the river," she alleges.
(Watch video here)A former High Court judge will head the commission that will investigate the incident and submit its report in two months. Mr Chouhan has promised action soon after.
A senior BJP minister in the state admitted yesterday that "there were some lapses by the police."
Witnesses have alleged that as they moved in queues to reach the temple, the rumour that a portion of the bridge was about to collapse triggered the stampede. Some have alleged that the rumour was spread by cops, a charge denied by the police.
A police lathicharge added to the chaos - cops say they were trying to ensure people moved in orderly queues.
Witnesses have also claimed that help arrived too late. For many of the injured, they said, a one hour delay in getting to hospital proved fatal.