Cops, Trust clueless on handling surge for Sai Baba

On Sunday night, Sathya Sai Baba appeared in the dream of solicitor general of India Gopal Subramaniam and told him to search his bedroom in the residential Yajur Mandir complex. "There is a silver box. Open it and you will find detailed instructions on how to run the Sai Central Trust, " Subramanian claimed the Baba told him in the dream. The first thing that Subramaniam did on Monday morning was to tell the Trust members about the dream.The cops were summoned to open the residential complex which had been sealed since last week after allegations that "valuables" from being stolen from there. A team led by DIG Charu Sinha entered the Baba’s spartan bedroom but found nothing. "There was a bed, a chair and a medicine chest. But there was no silver box or any documents or will of the Baba," a cop told TOI.
PUTTAPARTHI: The above incident illustrates the confusion in Puttaparthi since the godman’s demise. This confusion pervades beyond the gates of the Central Trust. While thousands of devotees keep pouring into Puttaparthi to wait in queues stretching up to 2-3 kms for that last glimpse, there appears to be little co-ordination between the Central Trust and the cops on how to handle the surge. "All they are interested are VVIPs and VIPs. We commoners are left to fend for ourselves," said Kutumba Rao who has come from Rajahmundry. It was the same story for a majority of over one lakh devotees who had reached Puttaparthi by Monday evening.
The consideration for VIP security hasn’t helped matters: Even milk vans have not been allowed to enter the town since Sunday night. Hotels, canteens, eateries, shops and other business establishments have also been shut. "We are helpless. The devotees are thirsty and hungry but we cannot serve them as everything is shut. There is no milk to serve even tea," said L Rajeev, a hotel manager.
A senior police officer said: "What can we do. VVIP bandobast is mandatory. All top functionaries are coming. So, many roads have been closed." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are expected on Tuesday. Many other chief ministers are also expected.
Cops blame Trust for chaos at Puttaparthi: With VIPs queuing up to pay respects to Sai Baba, thousands of ordinary devotees and locals of the town have been left to fend for themselves with the extremely tight bandobast leaving them without essential commodities like food, water and a roof over their heads for an overnight stay.
The cops were also left clueless on how to manage the surge of devotees at the Sai Kulwant Hall. They blamed the Trust members for the mess. "We along with the district collector had told the Trust members to organise the darshan at the Hill View stadium. But they did not heed to our request. The stadium has a capacity of 50,000 and in his lifetime all big events, including his birthday, were celebrated there. Sai Kulwant Hall has limited capacity and has no proper entry and exit routes. Hence, huge lines spill on to the road. And since the roads are narrow, we had to close the shops."
Trust sources, however, said that it wasn’t practical to keep the body in an open stadium in this heat. Sai Baba’s body will be kept for darshan till 6 pm on Tuesday. Preparations will be made for his samadhi which will be at the same place where his body is kept on Wednesday. The time has not been made public. While devotees will not be allowed in during that, some averred that a few VVIPs would surely inch their way in.