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Deshopriya ghost haunts Latasil puja

A heavy rush of devotees and visitors has forced the Durga Puja organizers at Latashil playground in Guwahati to hasten the immersion process on Thursday morning fearing a rerun of the Deshopriya tragedy.

Talking to Assam Times, the organizers said that their huge Durga puja pendal was teeming with thousands of visitors from the day one of the celebration. Even heavy deployment of security forces has been failing to control the crowd for the last three days.

“We fear the rerun of the much hyped Deshopriya tragedy in Kolkata sponsored by the Star Cement where eleven people were hurt in a stampede on the first day. We moved the district administration and agreed to end the event as soon as we completed the final puja offerings to the goddess Durga.”

But the decision to hasten the immersion of the idols made many devotees and visitors unhappy who failed to catch a glimpse of the idols.

“We could neither see the idols nor perform puja to the goddess of strength. We are upset with the decision,” said a devotee who could not offer puja.

Meanwhile, at least one hundred idols have been immersed in three places on the river Brahmaputra till Thursday night. The district administration has asked all the organizers to complete the immersion process by 11 in the morning at Kachari Ghat, Pandu Ghat and Noonmati Ghat.

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