Hathras: 6 sevadars arrested over stampede; Baba to be grilled if required, says UP Police

PTI, Hathras (UP), Jul 4, 2024 :  The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday said they have arrested six members of the organising committee of preacher Bhole Baba's 'satsang' in connection with the Hathras stampede that killed 121 people.

     The arrested include two women.

     The only accused named in the FIR is at large while Surajpal, who is also known as Narayan Sakar Hari and Bhole Baba, will be questioned if required during investigation, a senior officer said.

     A total of 121 people, mostly women, had died after the stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bhole's satsang in Hathras on Tuesday.

     The bodies of all victims have been identified and handed over to their families, District Magistrate Asish Kumar said here on Thursday.

     The police entered the ashram premises of Bhole Baba in Mainpuri and later said he was not present there. A police official said they had gone there to check the security arrangements.

     Police personnel have been deployed outside the ashram since the stampede took place at the preacher's congregation in Harthras.

     Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (Aligarh Range) Shalabh Mathur told reporters here on Thursday that all six persons who have been arrested worked are 'sevadars' (volunteers) at the 'satsang'.

     "A reward of Rs 1 lakh will be announced soon and non-bailable warrant (NBW) will also be issued against key accused Devprakash Madhukar," Mathur said.

     The preacher, Surajpal, was not mentioned as an accused in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandra Rau police station on Tuesday after the stampede at Phulrai village.

     Those arrested have been identified by the police as Ram Ladaite (50), Upendra ingh Yadav (62), Megh Singh (61), Mukesh Kumar (38), and women Manju Yadav (30) and Manju Devi (40).

     Ram Ladaite is a native of Mainpuri district while Upendra Singh Yadav is from Firozabad, and the rest are local residents of Hathras.

     All six were arrested on Thursday by the officials of Hathras Kotwali and Sikandra Rau police stations, the police said.

     IG Mathur said, "When information regarding the arrestees was obtained through detailed enquiry, these people told during inquiry that they are members of the organising committee and work as 'sevadars'."

     "The organisers and members gathered crowd and collected donations in the 'satsang' committee for cooperation," the officer added.

     The FIR was lodged on July 2 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).

     Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will visit Hathras on Friday, party officials said on Thursday.

     Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai told PTI that Gandhi will also meet the family members of the victims.

     He blamed the state government for the Hathras stampede.

     "The incident of Hathras is a failure of the UP government... Yesterday, the CM visited Hathras and later Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak also went there. They did not go together, this shows the infighting," Rai said, while addressing the media at the UPCC headquarters here.

     Rai reiterated the demand of the Congress for compensation of Rs 1 crore to the family of those who were killed in the stampede and Rs 25 lakh to the injured.

     "We also want a judicial inquiry into the incident to be conducted by a sitting judge of the high court, not a retired judge," said Rai.

     The state government on Wednesday formed a judicial inquiry commission headed by a retired Allahabad High Court judge to probe the incident.

     Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav claimed that there cannot be a conspiracy behind the Hathras stampede and alleged that it can definitely be a conspiracy that the government wants to run away from its responsibility on this matter.

     Yadav was reacting to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's remarks that he suspected a "possible conspiracy" behind the Hathras incident.