New Delhi: In a major incident, dozens of people – 121, till last count – were killed in a stampede that broke out during a private religious function organised by a self-proclaimed godman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district on Tuesday (July 2).
Aligarh’s commissioner, Chaitra V., said late on July 2 that the total death toll in the incident was 116 and that 18 others are injured. On the morning of July 3, the numbers rose to 121 and 28 respectively.
Distressing visuals emerged from Hathras as dozens of motionless bodies were shown strewn across the compound of a hospital. Unidentified locals, aggrieved by the incident, blamed the police and administration for the tragedy.
UP chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said the function’s organisers had sought permission for an event with an expected crowd of 80,000, but that the actual numbers far exceeded this.
He said police had been deployed there in large numbers and that after the event concluded, a stampede was triggered when people rushed to touch the feet of the preacher or gather the soil from the site as part of a tradition. People fell on top of each other into a ‘nullah’, he added.
It was a “major lapse” from the event organisers’ end, said the official, promising tough action against them.
Aligarh’s inspector general Shalabh Mathur said an FIR was being lodged, and that the organisers of the event would be booked.
Mathur added that prima facie, it appears that a larger crowd attended the event than what was permitted by the administration.
Videos shared on social media also showed a person saying that the incident happened because the police had opened up traffic on a road that had been closed the previous night.
The incident took place towards the end of a religious gathering or samagam organised by self-proclaimed godman Narayan Sakaar Hari alias Bhole Baba, who dresses up in white suit and wears a tie, in Mughal Garhi village in the Sikandra Rao area of Hathras.
The invitation for the event shared by a follower of the self-proclaimed guru on social media. Photo: Facebook
Hari was born in a village in Etah district. His events are called Manav Mangal Milan Sadhbhavna Samagam.
He is known to preach humanity or manav dharam and has a huge following among the Dalit community. According to sources, he worked in the state’s intelligence department before becoming a preacher.
After Tuesday’s incident, locals have also blamed the administration for not providing relief to the injured in time.
“Even those who were brought here alive are now dying,” said an unidentified man outside a hospital. Another person alleged that the hospital did not have enough oxygen to revive those who were unconscious. The veracity of the videos cannot be ascertained.
The police and the government are yet to comment on these allegations.
“The stampede took place as the road was uneven and people fell on each other while they were leaving after the event,” Shakuntala Devi, an eyewitness to the incident, told news agency ANI.
Another eye witness told Bharat 24: “It was very crowded. Suddenly as the satsang got over, there was no space to stand, people were pushing each other and suddenly people started falling. Many people are injured.”
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Hathras’s deputy commissioner Ashish Kumar said: “When people were trying to leave the site due to excess humidity, this incident took place.”
“It was a private event and all measures were taken for law and order by the administration. The arrangements inside the event were to be managed by them [the organisers],” Kumar added.
Etah’s senior superintendent of police Rajesh Kumar Singh said 27 dead bodies were brought to a hospital in his district. “No injured persons have been brought here,” he said.
Police also confirmed that 23 of the dead were women and one was a child.
UP’s director general of police Prashant Kumar said it would be probed if the event’s organisers violated any of the event’s conditions or if they did not make the necessary arrangements for the gathering.
If Narayan Sakaal Hari would be arrested, the officer said all action would be taken after a probe was conducted.
State minister Sandeep Singh, who was deputed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to visit Hathras and inspect the site, said the number of casualties were increasing.
Adityanath instructed officials to carry out relief and rescue operations on a war footing and directed the state’s chief secretary and the director general of police to reach the site of the incident. A team was formed under ADG Agra and commissioner Aligarh to investigate the reason behind the incident.
“The loss of life in the unfortunate accident in Hathras district is extremely sad and heart-wrenching,” said Adityanath.
He also said his government will get to the bottom of the case and find out if it was an accident or a “conspiracy”.
According to Adityanath, when the religious function concluded, a wave of devotees suddenly rushed toward the satsang preachers to touch them as they were exiting the stage and the incident took place when the sevadars or management volunteers tried to stop them.
He has given his officials 24 hours to investigate the incident.
Note: The toll of the incident is being updated.
