New Delhi:

The district official – a sub divisional magistrate – who permitted ‘godman’ Bhole Baba’s ‘prayer meet’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, at which a stampede killed 121 people – never inspected the venue, a team investigating the tragedy said in a report submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The SIT report also said the event organisers and local administration, including the police, were negligent and held them responsible, stating they “failed to make adequate arrangements” for so large a crowd. Neither local officials nor the cops took the event “seriously”, the report said.

That the organisers – who have been held “primarily responsible” involved, or hired, individuals without police verification has been held up as an example of that negligence.

And, in a lapse of protocol, local police did not inform, as soon as they should have, their seniors of the stampede and the deaths, the report said. The probe team also echoed the Chief Minister in suggesting a “conspiracy” behind the tragedy, and has recommended a more detailed investigation.

The report is based on statements from 125 people – from eyewitnesses and survivors to police and district officials. In addition, news reports and photographs and video footage were also examined.

Announcing their first arrests in the stampede at the Hathras religious event which killed 121 people, the Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday said they have taken six people into custody, but there was one notable omission – Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari, the self-styled godman in whose honour the ‘satsang’ was organised.  

Pressed on the issue at a press conference, Inspector General of Police (Aligarh Range) Shalabh Mathur said the investigation has just begun and more arrests will be made based on the facts that emerge. He also clarified that the ‘godman’, whose original name is Suraj Pal, has not been questioned yet. 

Not ruling out taking Pal into custody, the officer said, “We will make arrests based on what the investigation reveals… We will question the baba if necessary, it is too early to say or comment whether he has a role. He has not been named in the FIR, which has held the organisers responsible. The permission was taken by the organising committee and members of the panel have been arrested.”

The permission was taken in the name of one Ved Prakash Madhukar, the officer said, adding that teams have been formed to trace him and a reward of Rs 1 lakh has been announced for information leading to his arrest. “If the role of other people is revealed during Madhukar’s questioning, we will take action accordingly,” Mr Mathur said.

Asked about the previous cases against the ‘godman’, who has allegedly also been accused of sexual assault, the officer said that, from what they know so far, Pal was a head constable with the UP police and had taken VRS (voluntary retirement from service) in 2000, when he was posted in Agra. 

“Soon after, an FIR was registered against him in Agra’s Shahganj police station and he was later acquitted. We are finding out if he has any more cases against him and we are taking the help of police in various states for this. 

Tuesday’s stampede, which led to the deaths of 121 people, including at least seven children, occurred at a ‘satsang’ in Phulrai village under Sikandra Rao police station limits in Hathras. Police said permission had been given for 80,000 people but 2.5 lakh had gathered for the event. 

When Pal was leaving in his car, a crowd rushed to collect the dust left in its wake, thinking of it as a blessing.

In a bid to control the crowd, the volunteers and others in charge of security from Pal’s organisation began pushing people back. Several devotees fell around an embankment and were crushed by the crowd. Amid the chaos, other attendees began running, triggering a stampede. 

Issuing a brief statement on Wednesday after maintaining silence since the stampede, Pal expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and said he will take legal action against “anti-social elements” that were allegedly behind the tragedy. 

Hathras (UP):

The Hathras stampede tragedy has a number – 123; 123 lives lost, many families devastated. The political blame game and the rumble of government machinery often drowns out the wails of bereaved families.

For those who lost their relatives in the stampede at a ‘satsang’ of Narayan Sakar Hari aka ‘Bhole Baba’, even mourning is on pause. They go from one mortuary to the other to identify bodies. When they find their own, there is loss. When they don’t, they head to the next one. The injured are scattered across multiple hospitals, making it a daunting task for their relatives to find them.

Many Still Missing

Urmila Devi came to the ‘satsang’ with her 16-year-old granddaughter, and they separated when the chaos broke out. Since Wednesday night, the elderly woman has been to three district hospitals in Hathras and Etah to look for her, but without any success.

“I looked in the pandal, screamed out her name. When I did not find her, I started visiting the hospitals. I have not found her yet,” she told NDTV yesterday.

Urmila Devi does not have a phone and sent word to her elder son through an acquaintance. “I don’t know if he even knows his daughter is missing.”

NDTV found some people looking for a woman relative. They had been to hospitals in Aligarh, Hathras and Etah, but could not find her.

Anger Against Godman

The stampede at the ‘satsang’, the police say, broke out when the self-styled godman was leaving and his followers rushed to collect dust stirred up by his car. The godman’s guards pushed some of the followers, triggering the stampede. Two days on, ‘Bhole Baba’ remains missing and has even put out a statement from an unknown location; his lawyer has said he will cooperate with investigators.

For some of his ardent followers who are now in hospital, anger is replacing faith. “If the baba really has powers and cares about us, he should come here and heal us. He should help us in treatment,” said a woman who fractured her hand in the chaos. Her five-year-old grandson was also injured and is recovering in the same hospital.

Binod, a resident of Hathras, has torn down posters of ‘Bhole baba’ at his home as he tries to cope with the loss of his whole family – his mother Jaya, wife Rajkumari and daughter Bhumi died in the stampede. “I was away, I came to know about the stampede in the evening. I rushed home to find they are all dead,” he said, breaking into tears.

Where Does The Buck Stop

In the aftermath of the tragedy, a political blame game has begun and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said the investigation will also focus on whether a “conspiracy” is behind the tragedy. Akhilesh Yadav, chief of main opposition Samajwadi Party, has held the BJP government fully responsible for the incident.

The godman’s lawyer has blamed “anti-social elements”, insisting that it was a “planned conspiracy”.

The FIR does not name the ‘godman’ at all, and his aide and the event’s main organiser is the main accused. The FIR also appears to clear the local administration of all responsibility and blames the organisers for mismanagement. The state government, however, has assured that no one who is guilty will be spared.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the incident. The state government has also set up a three-member panel headed by a retired High Court judge to investigate the stampede tragedy.

Hathras (UP):

Two days after the killer stampede at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras left 123 people dead, police are yet to make any arrests. Self-styled godman Narayana Sakar Hari, who addressed the ‘satsang’, is still at an unknown location, but his lawyer has said he will cooperate in the probe.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak told NDTV that the investigation report is expected soon and no one who is guilty will be spared. “We are committed to taking strict action,” he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister has said the autopsy of 118 bodies has been done so far, and five are yet to be identified. “We have sent the bodies to their families after post-mortem. Twenty injured are being treated in hospitals here,” he said.

Asked why the FIR does not mention Narayan Sakar Hari, also known as ‘Bhole baba’, “Let the report come, no one will be spared, no matter how well-connected they are,” he said.

On the factors that led to the killer stampede, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “We will be able to tell anything after the report comes.”

The stampede on Tuesday afternoon was triggered by a mad rush for dust. According to the FIR, about 2.5 lakh people had turned up for the ‘satsang’ even though police had sought permission for a gathering of 80,000.

When the godman was leaving after the satsang, a large group of followers approached his car to collect the dust stirred up by the tyres. According to the subdivisional magistrate’s report, the godman’s private security guards started pushing his followers and some people fell and were trampled. Many others fled towards the open field and slipped, and others ran over them.

Devprakash Madhukar, Narayan Sakar Hari’s close aide and main organiser of the event, has been named accused in the FIR. Police conducted raids at many locations across Hathras, Etah and Mainpuri to arrest the accused. 

The preacher’s lawyer AP Singh said in a statement last night that Narayan Sakar Hari is ready to cooperate with the state administration and the police. “Some anti-social elements hatched a conspiracy,” he alleged.

A three-member judicial commissioned, headed by Allahabad High Court’s retired judge, Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastav, is investigating the tragedy. The panel is likely to submit its report in two months.

Announcing the judicial panel probe, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath raised a big question. “If this is not an accident, then whose conspiracy is this? All of this will be probed,” he told the media during his visit to Hathras, where he met those injured and visited the spot where the stampede took place.

The Chief Minister, when asked why the ‘godman’ has not been named an accused, said, “Prima facie, the case has been filed against those who applied for permission for the event. Whoever is responsible for this will come under its purview.”

Besides the judicial panel, a special investigation team led by Agra’s Additional Director General of Police Anupam Kulshreshtha is probing the incident.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the families of those killed in the stampede. Many families, reports say, are still looking for their own who attended the ‘satsang’. Rajkumari Devi from Unnao told news agency PTI, “It’s only the poor who meet this fate, not the rich.”

She was seated in an ambulance, next to her sister-in-law Ruby’s body. The dead woman’s five-year-old son is missing (as on last night). Asked if she had any demands from the government, she replied, “What do we say now? There’s nothing (to ask for).”

Hathras, UP:

 The Uttar Pradesh government has set up a three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of retired Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastava (II) of Allahabad High Court to investigate the July 2 Hathras stampede, in which at least 121 died.

A notification in this regard was issued by Governor Anandiben Patel late on Wednesday night.

Retired IAS officer Hemant Rao and retired IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh have been appointed as members of the inquiry commission. The headquarters of the commission will be located in Lucknow.

The commission is tasked with completing its investigation within two months from the date of the notification.

According to an official release, any extension of this duration will require an order from the state government. The commission will investigate the prescribed points and submit the report to the state government.

The prescribed points for the probe include investigating the organiser’s compliance with the conditions set for granting permission by the district administration. The commission will also investigate whether the incident was an accident, a conspiracy, or the result of another planned criminal act.

Additionally, the commission will examine crowd control and law and order arrangements by the administration and the police during the event, along with related aspects. It will also analyse the reasons and circumstances leading to the incident.

Furthermore, the commission will provide recommendations to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russian President Vladimir Putin. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday expressed condolences over the stampede at a religious congregation in Uttar Pradesh in which 121 people were killed.

“President of #Russia Vladimir Putin sent a condolence message to President of #India Droupadi Murmu & Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi over the tragic stampede in #UttarPradesh: Kindly accept the most sincere condolences over the tragic accident in Uttar Pradesh,” the Russian Embassy in India posted on X.

The stampede took place on Tuesday in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. The victims were part of the crowd of thousands that had gathered near Phulrai village in the Sikandrarau area for the ‘satsang’ by a religious preacher.

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday lodged an FIR against the organisers of the religious congregation, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted.

Hathras (UP):

The stampede in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras that killed 121 people was triggered by a mad rush for dust. Men, women and children fell over each other, getting crushed, just to collect dust stirred up by the car of a self-styled godman. The organisers’ laxity and inadequate police force contributed to the tragedy. 

The stampede took place at a ‘satsang’ addressed by self-styled godman Suraj Pal aka Narayan Saakar Hari, whose followers called him Bhole Baba.

According to the FIR, the organisers of the ‘satsang’ sought permission for a gathering of 80,000-odd people, but a crowd of over 2.5 lakh turned up.

After the gathering, when the ‘godman’ was leaving, there was a rush among his followers to collect dust stirred up by his car’s tyres. According to the subdivisional magistrate’s report, the ‘godman’ private security guards started pushing his followers and some people fell and were trampled. In the chaos, many others fled towards the open field and slipped, and others ran over them. Many of those killed in the stampede are women and children.

The FIR states that Suraj Pal’s aides, known as sevadars, were carrying sticks and stopped the crowd from approaching the ‘godman’ and the rushing people fell on each other, suffocating the ones below.

According to eyewitnesses, only about 40 police personnel were on duty to ensure safety at this massive gathering and they were overwhelmed when the stampede broke out.

A total of 121 people have died in the stampede and 28 are in hospital. Although Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has assured that the state police will get to the bottom of this, there have been no arrests yet. Significantly, the ‘godman’ has not been named an accused in the case and is now missing. The FIR names his aide and main organiser of the event, Devprakash Madhukar, and other unidentified accused.

The FIR says the organisers concealed the number of people expected to attend the event and traffic management conditions were also not met. The organisers’ actions led to the stampede and attempts were also made to dispose of key evidence such as clothes and footwear of the victims, the FIR says.

The accused has been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and wrongful restraint, among others.

The Chief Minister is at Hathras today. “Our government will get to the bottom of this incident and give appropriate punishment to the conspirators and those responsible. The state government is investigating this entire incident. We will see whether it is an accident or a conspiracy,” Mr Adityanath said yesterday.

Akhilesh Yadav, former Chief Minister and president of main Opposition Samajwadi Party, has said there is a need to identify the human errors that led to his tragedy and draw lessons for the future. “A thorough probe and action can stop a recurrence of such mishaps,” he said.

Asked if the self-styled godman may be arrested, state police chief Prashant Kumar yesterday said, “Right now, everything is a matter of investigation. We do not want to influence the investigation by drawing any immediate conclusion. The ambit of the investigation is open. Action will be taken based on the facts that come to light during the investigation.”

New Delhi:

Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari is likely to be arrested soon after more than 100 people died in a stampede at his ‘satsang’ (religious congregation) in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on Tuesday. The self-styled godman, whose original name is Suraj Pal, is believed to be at his ‘ashram’ in Mainpuri, about 100 km from the Phulrai village, where he held the event attended by thousands of devotees.

Many senior police officials have reached the Hathras stampede site, while others are at his ashram, the Ram Kutir Charitable Trust. Besides police personnel, an NDTV team at the ashram also saw his devotees gathering in large numbers.

In Hathras, a forensic unit and a dog squad are at the stampede site. Teams of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are also present.

At least 121 people, including over 100 women and seven children, were killed in the Hathras stampede. The Uttar Pradesh government said most of the people who died in the stampede have been identified.

A compensation of Rs 2 lakh each has been announced for the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed their condolences to the families of the victims.

How Hathras Stampede Happened

Officials said the place where the Hathras stampede happened was too small to accommodate the crowd that had gathered there on Tuesday afternoon. A woman who attended the ‘satsang’ said the stampede broke out as the crowd began to leave.

After the ‘satsang’, devotees rushed to touch the feet of the self-styled guru, causing a big crowd build-up in a small area, officials said.

Devotees had come to the ‘satsang’ from various districts of Uttar Pradesh as well as neighboring states.

A high-level committee has been formed to investigate the incident.

The panel will be headed by the Additional Director General of Police, Agra, and the Aligarh Commissioner, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said.

Case Against Hathras Satsang Organisers

A case has been filed against the ‘satsang organisers’ in Hathras, officials said.

According to the FIR, permission was granted for 80,000 people but more than 2.5 lakh devotees attended the event.

“Due to the uncontrollable crowd leaving the venue, devotees sitting on the ground were crushed. On the other side of the road, the crowd running in the water and mud-filled fields was forcibly stopped by the organizing committee with sticks, due to which the pressure of the crowd kept increasing and women, children, and men kept getting crushed,” the FIR said.

“The police and administrative officials present on the spot made every possible effort and sent the injured people to the hospital with the available resources. But no cooperation was given by the organizers,” the FIR added.

They have been charged under sections 105, 110, 126 (2), 223, and 238 of the new criminal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Godman Behind Hathras ‘Satsang’

Self-styled guru Narayan Saakar Hari has often claimed that he has worked with the Intelligence Bureau. He also told his devotees that he was inclined towards spirituality even when he was working and had resigned in the 1990s to pursue the spiritual path.

Born in Bahadur Nagari village in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district to a farmer, Nanne Lal, and Katori Devi, he completed his initial studies in the village.

He was reportedly a head constable with the Local Intelligence Unit of the UP police. He left his police job in 1999 and then changed his name to Narayan Saakar Hari.

He claims he began working for the Intelligence Bureau after college and turned towards spirituality during his time there.

Hathras Stampede Helpline Numbers

The Uttar Pradesh government has launched two helpline numbers — 05722227041 and 05722227042 — after the Hathras stampede incident.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi – in the middle of a fierce attack on the Congress and the opposition in Parliament this evening – broke off to inform the House of a tragedy in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras.

Dozens, including women and children, were killed in a stampede at a prayer meet.

Mr Modi, who was fighting a vociferous battle with the opposition while speaking on the Motion of Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu’s joint address to Parliament last week, paused and told his fellow MPs of the tragedy. As he did so, the Lok Sabha, which seconds earlier had reverberated with the shrieks and screams and chants of opposition MPs targeting the PM fell completely silent.

“In the midst of these discussions I have also been given sad news. It has come to my attention that there have been many tragic deaths in the stampede in Hathras…” the Prime Minister said.

READ | 87, Including Children, Killed In Stampede At Religious Event In UP

“I express my condolences to those who lost their lives (and) hope for the speedy recovery of the injured,” he added, as murmurs broke from MPs preparing to add the Hathras stampede to their arsenal of weapons against Mr Modi and his ruling BJP, which is also in power in Uttar Pradesh.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, “There are reports of many people dying in the stampede in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. I express my condolences to those who lost their lives in this accident. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured. The administration is engaged… pic.twitter.com/UasFmME0br

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2024

Mr Modi also said senior central government officers had been instructed to contact their state counterparts to coordinate rescue and aid efforts. “Through this forum, I assure everyone that all possible assistance will be provided to the victims,” he said. The PM’s office has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to each of the families of those killed and Rs 50,000 to each of those injured.

The Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF for the next of kin of each deceased in the mishap in Hathras. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000.

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 2, 2024

The Hathras Lok Sabha MP – the BJP’s Anoop Pradhan – said he had spoken to district officers but declined to comment on the number of dead. The injured, he said, were being treated at hospitals.

Before and after the Prime Minister’s mention of the Hathras stampede, the opposition threw a wall of noise – protests, slogans, and screams – at Mr Modi as he was speaking.

READ | PM’s Speech Amid Opposition Chants, Speaker Rebukes Rahul

Such was the relentless sloganeering that Speaker Om Birla appeared to lose his temper on more than one occasion as he tried, without any success, to control the shrieking opposition.

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