Chaos at Shreya Ghoshal’s concert

Cuttack: A commotion broke out at Bollywood playback singer Shreya Ghoshal’s concert at the Bali Jatra ground in Cuttack on Thursday evening, leaving one person injured. The district administration officials said that the situation turned chaotic when a large number of people surged towards the stage as Ghoshal appeared for her live performance. The programme was briefly halted but later resumed after the police brought the situation under control.

One person fell unconscious and was taken to a nearby hospital, amid the pushing and shoving. Thousands of fans had gathered to witness Ghoshal’s performance on the concluding day of the Bali Jatra festival.

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.”

Senior police officers, including Singh—who was monitoring the event from the control room—reached the spot to assess the situation and restore normalcy. Using public address systems, the police appealed to attendees to remain calm and maintain order.

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.

In another incident on Wednesday night, at least eight persons remained stranded for nearly two hours in a swing that suddenly malfunctioned while in motion at a height of about 30 feet above the ground at Bali Jatra, police said. The incident took place at about 11 pm when the swing suddenly stopped as the eight visitors of Bali Jatra were on it.

All eight persons, including a woman and two children, were later rescued with help of a hydraulic lift. They were utterly panicked for remaining trapped in the swing for over two hours above the ground level, according to their family members.

Cuttack DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo and other senior officers monitored the rescue operation when thousands of people witnessed the bravery of the Odisha Fire Service personnel. “All the persons trapped in the swing were rescued,” the DCP said. The persons who, were rescued from the swing, were later taken to hospital for medical examination.