Officials said the stampede took place after 2 am when a congregation ended and gifts were being distributed to devotees of sect chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh. Sirsa is around 300 km from Chandigarh. Several people were injured.

The stampede took place when a squall hit the venue and people ran in different directions to take cover. Tens of thousands of sect devotees had gathered for the founder's day celebrations of the sect here.

Police officials said over 100,000 devotees were inside the sect headquarters Thursday night.

The victims, whose bodies have been taken to the civil hospital here for a post mortem examination, fell and were crushed under the people running for cover.

Sect officials could not be reached as they did not answer any calls.