Around 2.50 lakh devotees gathered, sewadars threw victims’ belongings to hide evidence: First FIR in Hathras stampede
As many as 121 people were killed in the Hathras stampede after a satsang by local preacher Narayan Sakar Hari or Bhole Baba.
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Devotees at the religious gathering where a stampede broke out, in Hathras district, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (PTI)While Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said on Tuesday action will be taken against local preacher Narayan Sakar Hari or Bhole Baba, the first FIR registered in the case doesn’t name him in the Hathras stampede case, where at least 121 people died and several others were injured at a religious gathering.
A First Information Report under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110, 126(2) [wrongfully restrains], 223 and 238 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) has been registered against main sewadar Devprakash Madhukar and other unidentified organisers and sewadars.
“The organiser had sought permission for the gathering of about 80,000 devotees in the programme, hiding the situation of lakhs of devotees who had gathered in the previous programme of the said organisation. But a crowd of about 2.50 lakh people from different districts and nearby states had gathered. Traffic on G T Road was blocked due to non-compliance of permission conditions,” reads the FIR registered after the complaint of Brajesh Pandey, Sub-inspector, Sikandrarau police station.
“After the sermon of the main preacher Surajpal alias Bhole Baba, while leaving the venue at around 14:00, the devotees started collecting dust/soil from the path of his vehicle. On the other side of G T Road, the crowd kept getting crushed in the water and mud filled with water and mud about three meters deep in the field. The police present at the spot took the injured to the hospital, but there was no cooperation from the sewadars. The evidence was fabricated by throwing away the belongings, clothes and shoes of the injured persons at the scene of the incident,” reads the FIR further.
A stampede took place on Tuesday after the satsang addressed by Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari aka Bhole Baba, and 121 people, mostly women, were killed. Officials said the victims were from districts across Western UP such as Mathura, Etah, Shahjahanpur, Bulandshahr, Kasganj, and Hathras.
Soon after the stampede, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath constituted a team to inquire into its cause and submit a report within 24 hours. Adityanath also announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.
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