Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today accused the organisers of the religious gathering led by Bhole Baba in Hathras, where a stampede resulted in the deaths of over 120 people and injuries to several others, of “trying to cover up the incident”.
“This will not happen again… there will be SOPs (standard operating protocols)… we will ensure that,” Adityanath vowed after visiting the site.
“The culprits won’t be spared,” the CM assured.
A high-level committee headed by a retired High Court judge will conduct a thorough investigation into alleged lapses, including concerns over permissions, crowd control, and safety measures, which have already been flagged.
“We cannot deny this stampede is not an accident… (but), if not accident, then it was a conspiracy by whom? We will conduct a judicial inquiry under a retired High Court judge,” Adityanath said.
He confirmed reports that the stampede was triggered when people rushed to touch the godman’s feet.
“I had a conversation with several eyewitnesses and they informed me that the incident took place after the program was over when the preacher of the Satsang was coming down from the stage, suddenly several women started going towards him to touch him and when the ‘sevadars’ stopped them, due to which this accident happened. The administration was not allowed by the ‘sevadars’ to enter,” he said.
“Then they tried to cover up the issue… when people were being taken to hospitals, the security team ran away.”
Over 120 people, including children, were tragically crushed to death by an estimated crowd of over 250,000 during a ‘satsang’ or ‘prayer meet’ led by Suraj Pal Singh, who identifies himself as Bhole Baba, in Hathras on Tuesday afternoon.
Six of the deceased were from Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, while the remaining victims hailed from different parts of Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, UP government and police officials are being criticised over the tragedy and questioned why such a large rally was permitted without adequate safety measures in place.
The police have filed a case against a close aide of Baba Bhole and the event organizers, but the FIR does not name the godman himself.
As of now, no arrests have been made, and State Police Chief Prashant Kumar remained non-committal when asked about the possibility of arresting Bhole Baba, stating, “Action will be determined by the facts.”
