Two Days After Killer Stampede Left 123 Dead, No Arrests And Few Answers
Told to NDTV, Deputy Chief of Minster Brajesh Pathak said that the police has forwarded the investigation report and that soon the report will come out and nobody who is guilty will be saved.
Hathras (UP): It was in a gathering called Godollo during a religious event held in the district of Hathras in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where one hundred twenty three people were trampled to death by the police’s own admission at least two days after the incident, police have not apprehended any suspect. The Java-based self-styled ‘god man’ who conducted the ‘satsang’ known as Narayana Sakar Hari is still traceable but his lawyer has said he will be willing to assist in the investigation.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said to NDTV that the investigation is going on and the report will be out shortly and anyone who is proven guilty will not be bailed out. Instead, the official stated precisely as follows: “We are committed to taking severe actions”.
The Deputy Chief Minister has said that […] In total, 118 bodies have been autopsied and five unidentified bodies are still lying in the mortuary. ”We have buried those we received after the post-mortem of the victims next of kin,” he said, adding that twenty injured have been admitted in hospitals here.
When asked why the FIR does not include Narayan Sakar Hari, also referred to as ‘ Bhole baba’, “let the report come, no one shall be let off the hook, irrespective of how connected he or she may be,” he said.
On the aspects leading to the killer stampede, the Deputy Chief Minister was quizzical, “We will be able to say anything after the report comes.”
The stampede that took place on Tuesday afternoon was precipitated by a mad scour for dust. As per the FIR, around a couple of lakh people were present at the ‘satsang’ session and despite this, the police had sought prior permission for 80,000 persons.
According to the vows and guidelines, nothing should have been done to hinder or even cause a disturbance of the godman’s car tires when it was being driven out after the Satsang and this was well understood by the followers as a large group of devotees followed behind the car, holding in their hands lotus flowers, trying to collect the dust kicked up by the car. From the report issued by the sub divisional magistrate, one of the witnesses identified as a godman was accompanied by private security personnel who began to agitate the followers and several persons fell down, tripping over the bodies of others. Others ran helter-skelter to the open field and fell down and those behind tread on them.
Accused in the FIR includes Devprakash Madhukar, aide and main organizer of the event from Narayan Sakar Hari’s side. Raids were conducted by the police at numerous places in Hathras, Etah, and Mainpuri to arrest the accused men.
The defense counsel of the preacher, AP Singh in a statement last night said that Narayan Sakar Hari can actively engage with the state administration and police henceforth. He said that there are some elements who do not mingle with the society and they planned something.
The ongoing probe into the Sudhir Bharadwaj tragic death is being carried by a three-member judicial commission headed by the Allahabad High Court retired judge namely Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastav. The panel is thus expected to provide the report after two months.
The matter attained the highest pitch when, in announcing the judicial panel probe, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath posed a big question. He questioned that if it is not an accident, then whose conspiracy is it and all this will be looked into He found them to be stable but questioned why the administration allowed people inside when there was a stampede He further spoke to the media and said If this is not an accident, then whose conspiracy is this? All of this will be probed
When asked why the ‘godman’ has not been raided, the Chief Minister retorted: “Prima facie, the FIR has been registered against those, who applied for permission for the event and whoever r outlet is for this will come under its net.”
Apart from the judicial panel, a team of special investigation conducted by Agra’s Additional Director General of Police, Anupam Kulshreshtha has also been set on the matter.
The Uttar Pradesh government has said that it has paid the families that lost their dear ones in the stampede ₹ 2 lakh each. Numerous reports have been made that many families do not know where their own, who attended the ‘satsang’, are. A woman of Unnao narrating her ordeal to PTI said, “It’s only the poor people who get such a treatment, not the wealthy”.
She was in an ambulance, which was thought to be a funny, although tragic position since her sister-in-law’s lifeless body was laid beside her. He last saw her last night, and his body was found inside the house; the mother was strangled, and her five-year-old son is ‘‘missing.’’ When asked if she had any grouse from the government, she answered with a laugh, “What do we say now? There is nothing (to complain of).”
