Chaos caused after Narayan Sakaar Hari’s followers, who tried to reach near his vehicle to seek “darshan”, were pushed by the godman’s security and a “slippery slope” resulted in the stampede that killed 121 people in Hathras, a preliminary report of the SDM said.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday announced a judicial probe into the tragedy while not ruling out the possibility of a “conspiracy” behind the stampede.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Sikandra Rao submitted the preliminary report on the stampede to the district magistrate (DM).
The SDM, who gave permission for the ‘satsang’ (religious congregation), was also present at the venue when the incident occurred, according to the report.
“A crowd of more than 2 lakh people was present in the satsang pandal. Shri Narayan Sakar Hari (Bhole Baba) reached the satsang pandal at about 12.30 pm and the program went on for 1 hour.
“After this, at about 1.40 pm, Narayan Sakaar Hari (Bhole Baba) came out of the pandal to go towards Etah on National Highway-91,” the preliminary report said, adding that when the godman was leaving the venue, his followers started running towards him for a ‘darshan’ and collect soil from around his feet.
“Satsangi women/men/children etc. Started applying the dust of Baba’s feet on their foreheads (while trying) to get his darshan, touch his feet and take his blessings,” reads the report dated July 2.
The situation worsened when more people waiting on the divider of the road ahead began running towards his vehicle, it said.
“A large number of people were already standing on the dividers in the middle and on the sides of GT road, who started jumping from the dividers and started running towards Baba’s vehicle to get his darshan.
“Then Baba’s personal security personnel (Black Commandos) and sevadars started pushing and shoving the crowd themselves to stop the crowd, due to which some people fell down,” the report states, adding this led to a panic and the crowd went out of control.
“Due to which the crowd ran towards the open field in front of the venue to get relief, on the other side of the road, where most of the people slipped and fell due to the wet slope while descending from the road towards the field,” the report said.
Those who fell could not get up again and were run over by those coming from behind, it said.
“After this, they could not get up again and the crowd started running here and there over them,” the report mentioned.
‘Mukhya sevadar’ Devprakash Madhukar and other organisers have been named in the first information report (FIR) filed at the Sikandar Rau police station late on Tuesday, a senior officer told
Yogi met those injured in the incident at the venue of the religious congregation here and obtained information from the eyewitnesses about the course of events preceding the tragedy.
Asserting the Government will ensure that such incidents do not recur, the Chief Minister said a standard operating procedure might be put in place for religious congregations. “A judicial probe by a retired high court judge will be conducted into the incident,” he said. “If this is not an accident, then whose conspiracy is this? All of these will be probed. Retired officials of the police and civic administration will be part of the judicial inquiry and action will be taken against those found responsible.”
Yogi said the Government had formed a Special Investigation Team led by the additional director general (ADG) of police, Agra, which has given its preliminary report.
“She (ADG, Agra, Anupam Kulshreshtha) has been asked to get to the bottom of this incident, he said.
The Chief Minister said among the 121 killed in the stampede on Tuesday, six were from other states -- four from Haryana and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Asked why religious preacher Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba has not been named in the FIR as an accused, Yogi said, “Prima facie, the case has been filed against those who had applied for permission for the event. Whoever is responsible for this will come under its purview.”
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against the organisers of the congregation, accusing them of flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted.
It also alleged the organisers did not cooperate in traffic management and hid evidence after the stampede that occurred as people gathered there stopped to collect soil from where the religious preacher’s vehicle passed.
The Chief Minister met the injured at the district hospital and enquired about the condition. At the police lines, he met the eyewitnesses of the stampede and gathered information about the sequence of the incident. After meeting the injured, Yogi reached the stampede spot in Sikandrarau where the divisional commissioner of Aligarh briefed him about the accident.
