A brief but chaotic situation erupted at Bollywood playback singer Shreya Ghoshal’s concert at the Bali Jatra ground in Odisha’s Cuttack, on Thursday evening, leaving one person injured, officials said.
The commotion began when a massive crowd surged toward the stage as Ghoshal started her live performance on the concluding day of the Bali Jatra festival. District administration officials reported that the overwhelming rush of thousands of fans led to the situation turning chaotic.
Amidst the pushing and shoving, one person fell unconscious and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital. The concert was briefly paused but resumed after the police brought the crowd under control.
However, Commissioner of Police S Dev Datta Singh said there was no such unpleasant situation. “It is true that there was a huge crowd, but we managed it properly. One person sustained a minor injury and is stable,” Singh said.
Senior police officers, including Singh, who were monitoring the event from the control room reached the spot to assess the situation and restore normalcy.
Police used public address systems to appeal for calm and order among the attendees.
The incident occurred despite the deployment of 70 platoons around 2,100 personnel for law and order and crowd management at the Bali Jatra, one of the largest trade fairs in the country.
