| Jodhpur: The toll in the stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple today rose sharply to 224 with 77 deaths reported today by the relatives of the deceased even as the shrine today opened with fewer devotees amidst heightened police presence along the two-kilometer route leading to it. Jodhpur Divisional Commissioner Kiran Soni Gupta said the fresh cases of death came to notice today when the relatives of the dead reported them to the authorities which verified them and found true.
Gupta said the 77 dead were taken away by their kins directly to either private hospitals or crematorium on the day the tragedy had struck the temple yesterday when 147 deaths were confirmed. Although the temple reopened today, the turnout of devotees was much thinner than on the first day of Navaratri festival yesterday, officials said. More than 100 police personnel were deployed along the route to the temple located in the 15th century fort.
"The devout are visiting the temple but it is different from what it was yesterday before the tragedy struck. It was like a mela and now is deserted," they said. Over 55 persons, who sustained injury in the stampede, are being treated in various hospitals, they said.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasudhara Raje, who had visited the stampede site yesterday, has ordered a judicial probe into the incident. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went to the stampede site today, met those injured in the incident and assured them of all possible help from the Centre. (PTI) | 
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