Police recruitment drive in Kalina takes a deadly turn for 22-year-old

For the Ambares, poor farmers from Ahmednagar, their son Ramesh, 22, was their only hope of rising out of abject poverty.
The second of three brothers and also the brightest, Ramesh aspired to join the police force. But on Monday, as he waited to submit his form at the Kalina police grounds, he was crushed to death in a stampede, taking his family’s dreams along with him.

The stampede ensued minutes after the gates were opened at 6am. Candidates had rushed in to submit their forms for the constable recruitment. Police said there were at least 26,000 candidates waiting. At least a dozen were injured in the stampede, they added.

An unconscious Ramesh was taken to VN Desai Hospital but was declared dead on arrival. His brother Arvind and handicapped father Gopinath, arrived in Mumbai later on Monday.

Police said several candidates had already begun queuing up outside the centre since Sunday evening.

Deputy commissioner of police Nisar Tamboli who was heading the recruitment process said, “The candidates broke the queue at Kalina because they were in a hurry as they had planned to submit their forms at other centres like Navi Mumbai and Thane, too.”

Ganesh Wagh, 19, from Dhuliya, who was injured, said initially candidates waited in a queue. But, suddenly those at the back tried to barge ahead.

The injured have been identified as Amol Jadhav, 25, Dilip Rathod, 22, Vicky Jadhav 19, Vinayak Chavan 22, Kiran Choudhary, 24, Dilip Kharat 20, Roopesh Choudhary, 24, Prasad Suryavanshi, 23, Nikhil Choudhary 21 and Ganesh Wagh, 19.