LIVE | Hathras stampede toll at 121; UP govt forms judicial commission to probe
CM Yogi Adityanath orders judicial probe into incident, says SOPs would be issued to prevent recurrence of tragedy
The death toll in the stampede that broke out a ‘satsang’ in Pulrai village of Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras went up to 121 on Wednesday (July 3). Police in an FIR filed against the organisers accused them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people crammed into a venue in which only 80,000 were permitted.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met those injured in the stampede - which took place at around 3.30 pm when religious preacher Bhole Baba was leaving the venue with some accounts saying people slipped in the slush as they ran after the preacher's car.
"The chief minister held a meeting with officials in the circuit house and met the injured in district hospitals," a government official said.
A team consisting of ADG Agra and Aligarh Divisional Commissioner has been constituted to inquire into the cause of the incident. The report is likely to be submitted on Wednesday.
According to the Office of the Relief Commissioner, the number of people injured stands at 28. Only four of the 121 bodies remained to be identified.
Of the 116 who died on Tuesday, all were women, except for seven children and one man.
Where is religious preacher?
Where was Baba Narayan Hari, also known as Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba, the preacher who conducted the ‘satsang’? That was the question as he remained missing and police launched a search for him.
While the state police lodged an FIR against the organisers, his name is not in the list of accused though it is there in the complaint.
Giving a sense of what took place, the FIR alleged that the organisers hid the actual number of devotees coming to the 'satsang' while seeking permission, did not cooperate in traffic management and hid evidence after the incident.
The FIR apparently gave a clean chit to the police and administration, saying they did whatever possible from the available resources.
'Mukhya sevadar' Devprakash Madhukar and other organisers have been named in the first information report (FIR) filed at the Sikandar Rau police station late Tuesday, a senior official told PTI.
The FIR has been registered 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), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), the official said.
The organisers sought permission for about 80,000 people for which police and administration made arrangements. However, over 2.5 lakh people gathered, it said.
According to the FIR, police and administration officials did everything possible and sent the injured from the available resources to hospitals but the organisers and 'sevadars' did not cooperate.
Organisers tried to hide actual number: FIR
The organisers also tried to hide the actual number of people coming to the event by hiding evidence and throwing slippers and other belongings of the devotees in nearby fields, the FIR alleged.
Asphyxia due to compression was the leading cause of death, a senior doctor in an Etah hospital said. The hospital performed four times the usual number of autopsies in a day in the aftermath of the stampede, he said.
Twenty-seven bodies were taken to the mortuary of the district hospital.
"Asphyxia due to compression was found to be the cause of death in almost all the cases," Etah's Additional Chief Medical Officer Dr Ram Mohan Tiwari told PTI. A majority of the victims were women in the 40-50 age group.
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Live Updates
- 3 July 2024 8:42 AM GMT
Large number of cops deployed outside religious preacher's ashram
A large number of police personnel has been deployed outside the ashram in the wake of the stampede, officials said on Wednesday.
However, the officials remained tight-lipped when asked if Baba Narayan Hari, also known as Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba, was inside the ashram. But, some police sources said he indeed was inside.
Police Personnel pooled from many police stations have been deployed outside the ashram at Bicchwan in Mainpuri and no one, including the media, is allowed in.
Circle Officer Sunil Kumar Singh said security has been tightened after the stampede incident.
When asked if Baba is inside, he did not give a reply.
- 3 July 2024 8:37 AM GMT
2.5 lakh people were present at event, organisers tried hiding figures: FIR
An FIR filed in the case says over 2.5 lakh people had gathered for the event even though the organisers had sought permission for about 80,000 people for which police and the administration made arrangements.
The FIR was registered 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), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence.
The FIR also says that after the stampede broke out, the police and administration officials did everything possible and sent the injured from the available resources to hospitals but the organisers and 'sevadars' did not cooperate.
The organisers also tried to hide the actual number of people coming to the event by hiding evidence and throwing slippers and other belongings of the devotees in nearby fields, the FIR alleged.
Asphyxia due to compression was the leading cause of death, a senior doctor in an Etah hospital said. The hospital performed four times the usual number of autopsies in a day in the aftermath of the stampede, he said.
- 3 July 2024 7:37 AM GMT
Plea in SC for 5-member expert panel to probe incident
A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking appointment of a five-member expert committee under the supervision of a retired apex court judge to probe the Hathras stampede incident which claimed 121 lives.
The plea, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, has also sought a direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a status report on the July 2 incident and to initiate legal action against officials and others for their negligent conduct.
- 3 July 2024 5:18 AM GMT
What FIR says
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday lodged an FIR against the organisers of satsang in Hathras, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted.
However, the congregation or 'satsang' conductor Jagat Guru Saakar Vishwahari has not been named in the FIR though his name is in the complaint.
The FIR alleged that the organisers hid the actual number of devotees coming to the 'satsang' while seeking permission, did not cooperate in traffic management and hid evidence after the stampede, which broke out after people gathered there stopped to collect mud from the way the baba's vehicle was passing.
The FIR apparently gave a clean chit to the police and administration, saying they did whatever possible from the available resources.
'Mukhya sevadar' Devprakash Madhukar and other organisers have been named in the first information report (FIR) filed at the Sikandara Rao police station late Tuesday, a senior officer told PTI.
The FIR has been registered under the 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), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), the officer said.
In his FIR, complainant Brijesh Pandey said the 'satsang' programe of the baba was organised between Fulrai and Mugalgarhi on GT road in Sikandarrau area by Devprakash Madhukar and others on Tuesday.
The organisers sought permission for about 80,000 people for which police and administration made arrangements.
However, over 2.5 lakh people gathered in the event. By not following the conditions of the permission, GT road witnessed traffic jam and police and administration officials were working to clear it, the FIR said.
- 3 July 2024 4:53 AM GMT
Bags and other belongings lying at stampede site
Bags and other belongings lying at the scene a day after a massive stampede that took during a 'satsang' (religious congregation), in Sikandara Rao area in Hathras district, on Wednesday, July 3. PTI
