UP govt forms 3-member judicial commission to probe

Retired judge of the Allahabad High Court Brijesh Kumar Srivastav will head the three-member judicial inquiry commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday to probe the Hathras stampede incident, according to an official statement.

The commission, tasked to complete the investigation within two months, will look into various aspects of the case including "whether this incident is an accident or a conspiracy" and the arrangements made by the district administration and police for crowd control. It will also recommend preventive steps.

The commission, formed a day after the incident following the direction of Governor Anandiben Patel, will have retired IAS officer Hemant Rao and retired IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar as its members.

It will investigate the compliance of the permission granted by the district administration and the conditions mentioned therein by the organisers of the programme, the statement said.

It will also look into various aspects of "whether this incident is an accident or a conspiracy or the possibility of any other planned criminal incident".

The commission will investigate the arrangements made by the district administration and police for crowd control and maintaining law and order during the programme and other aspects related to them and will ascertain the reasons and circumstances due to which the said incident occurred.

The commission has also been asked to give suggestions regarding preventing the recurrence of such incidents.

The stampede at a religious congregation on Tuesday left 121 people dead and 28 injured.