New Delhi: A detailed probe of the Hathras stampede, in which 121 people have so far been declared dead, is still awaited. But according to an internal report of the administration, the incident might have taken place due to the over-eagerness of the devotees of the self-styled guru Narayan Sakaal Hari to seek his blessings and apply the dust of his feet on their foreheads, following the satsang event on July 2.
Meanwhile, a first information report was registered under culpable homicide against against the chief sevadar of the event Devprakash Madhukar and other unidentified organisers. Hari alias Bhole Baba, who was born as Surajpal, has not been named as an accused in the FIR.
In a report submitted to the administration, the sub-divisional magistrate of Sikandra Rao, where the incident took place, has said that “chaos” ensued at the site of the event when the crowd ran towards Hari’s vehicle following the event.
According to the report, Hari alias Bhole Baba reached the event site located on the southern side of village Fulrai Mughal Garhi on the National Highway 91 Sikandra Rao to Etah road, at around 12.30 pm.
There were around 2 lakh people waiting for him in the pandal (temporary tent), said the SDM. The chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh on July 2 evening said that the organisers had sought permission for an event for a crowd of 80,000 but that the actual numbers far exceeded it.
According to the FIR lodged in the case, the police said the crowd exceeded 2.5 lakh people.
‘Hari’s personal security guards and sevadars started pushing around’
The satsang event lasted an hour. At around 1.40 pm, when Hari moved towards NH-91 to leave the premises, men, women and children rushed towards the path on which he was travelling for his darshan and charan sparsh (touch his feet) and started applying the soil over which he moved on their forehead as a form of blessing, said the SDM.
A big crowd had already gathered on the sides of the Grand Trunk Road and near a divider in the middle of the road, for Hari’s darshan. They jumped over the divider and ran towards his vehicle for darshan, said the SDM who was present at the spot.
Hari’s personal security guards and sevadars started pushing around the crowd to prevent them from reaching Hari, said the SDM.
This caused some of the devotees to fall on the ground but even then the crowd did not listen and “chaos ensued,” the report said.
Desperate for fresh air and relief, the devotees ran towards an open field in front of the stage on the other side of the road. While moving from the road to the fields, most people “slipped and fell” as they passed a sloped area, said the SDM.
They could not get up in time and those in the crowd started running over each other.
The FIR, lodged after 10 pm on July 2, invoked 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 of offence) of the BNS.
In the FIR, police said that the organisers concealed the fact that lakhs of people typically attend their event and sought permission for a crowd of only 80,000. The turnout of more than 2.5 lakh was a violation of the conditions on which permission was granted to the organisers for the event, said police.
The high turnout caused a traffic block on the GT road, said sub-inspector Brijesh Pandey, who filed the complaint.
At around 2 pm, when Hari started leaving the venue in his car, the people started gathering the “dhool” or dust from the road over which the vehicle moved, said Pandey.
इस तरह के काफिले और सुरक्षा घेरे में चलता है #बाबा सूरज पाल उर्फ “नारायण साकार हरि”
इसके दिखावे के कारण ही #हाथरस के #सत्संग में भगदड़ मची।
सबसे बड़ा सवाल है की इन बाबाओं को छूट कौन देता है?#UttarPradesh #Hathras #Etah #STAMPEDE pic.twitter.com/CtE0JwgddP— Article19 India (@Article19_India) July 2, 2024
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On the other side of the road, people were running towards the fields that were three-metre deep and filled with water and mud, when sevadars of the event stopped them with lathis, said police. This increased the pressure of the crowd on those managing it.
Pandey also said that police received no cooperation from the organizers or sevadars as they tried to take the injured to various hospitals with the help of whatever available resources.
They also tried to hide evidence by throwing the shoes, slippers and other items of the people in the nearby field, said Pandey.
The organisers of the event are yet to formally respond to the police and administration.
