An eerie calm prevailed at Krishnapatnam in SPSR Nellore district a day after a stampede caused by tens of thousands of people who thronged the village for an ayurvedic preparation that reportedly claimed to provide a cure for COVID-19.
Police tightened security in Krishnapatnam and sent out people camping in and around the village waiting to get at least a few packets of the preparation by B. Anandaiah despite suspension of its distribution pending approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR).
Barricades were erected at several places on the arterial Chennai-Kolkata highway to prevent people from coming to the village defying the prohibitory orders in force during the partial curfew imposed by the State government to combat COVID.
“'The situation is well under control,” said Nellore Rural Deputy Superintendent of Police Y. Harinath Reddy.
Meanwhile, a patient named Kottaiah from Tinnelapudi village, near Kota, who had reportedly taken the eye drops from the ayurvedic practioner was rushed in a critical condition to a designated COVID-19 hospital here.
Appeal
Joint Collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad, who accompanied a team of the Indian Council of Medical Research which rushed to the village at the behest of Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu for a scientific study, appealed to the people not to rush to the village as the distribution of the herbal preparation had been suspended by the district administration. They should wait for the findings of the ICMR which might take about one week to 10 days, he said.
An AYUSH team headed by its Commissioner Col. V. Ramulu collected samples of the preparation for study after Mr. Anandaiah gave a demonstration of the preparation made by him.
Superintendent of Police Bhaskar Bhushan clarified that Mr. Anandaiah was only provided security and had not been taken into custody and as reported in a section of the media. No case has been registered for COVID safety norms violation, he said.
