On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh Police registered an FIR against the organizers of the religious congregation in Hathras, where 121 people died following a stampede, including 106 women and seven children.
In Phulrai Village of Hathras, the ‘Satsang’ (prayer meeting) was conducted by Baba Narayan Hari, a.k.a. Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba. While thousands attended the event on Tuesday, visuals from the Community Health Center showed scores of bodies being admitted for medical attention.
Chief Medical Officer of Etah, Dr. Umesh Kumar Tripathi, said, “We have received 27 bodies, of which 25 are female and two are male. Some injured people have also been taken to hospitals. We have heard that there was a stampede during a’satsang’.” Senior Superintendent of Police (Etah) Rajesh Kumar revealed that the bodies of three children were among those brought to the district.
FIR Resgistered
A case has been filed against a close aide, or mukhya sewadar, of the self-styled godman and the organizers of the event. The First Information Report (FIR), however, does not name Bhole Baba, whose original name is Suraj Pal Singh, as an accused. As per the FIR, permission was granted for 80,000 people, but more than 2.5 lakh devotees attended the event.
“Due to the uncontrollable crowd leaving the venue, devotees sitting on the ground were crushed. On the other side of the road, the crowd running in the water and mud-filled fields was forcibly stopped by the organizing committee with sticks, due to which the pressure of the crowd kept increasing and women, children, and men kept getting crushed,” the FIR against the’satsang’ organizers in Hathras said.
“The police and administrative officials present on the spot made every possible effort and sent the injured people to the hospital with the available resources. But no cooperation was given by the organizers,” it added.
IG Shalabh Mathur said, “So far, 166 deaths have been confirmed. Twenty-seven bodies are in the Etah mortuary, and the rest are in Hathras. They have been sent post-mortem to different places. We are working hard to ensure that the injured get the best possible treatment as soon as possible. A case is being registered, and the names of the people who took permission for the event will be added. Prima facie, it appears that there were more people than were allowed.”
According to reports from the incident, devotees were not allowed to leave the area until Bhole’s car left, creating an escalation in the crowd and resulting in a stampede. A compensation of ₹2 lakh each has been announced for the families of the dead and ₹50,000 for the injured. Officials said a case will be registered against the organizers.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Yogi Adityanath said, “Instructions have been given to the concerned officials to conduct relief and rescue operations on a war footing and to provide proper treatment to the injured. A team has been formed under the leadership of ADG Agra and Commissioner Aligarh, and instructions have also been given to investigate the causes of the accident.”
Rahul Gandhi expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, requesting that the authorities provide every possible treatment for the injured and relief for the affected families. He wrote on X, “The news of the death of many devotees due to the stampede during the satsang in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, is extremely painful. I express my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured. The government and administration are requested to provide every possible treatment to the injured and relief to the affected families. All workers in India are requested to provide their cooperation in relief and rescue.”
