Hathras Stampede: Six people arrested; all members of Satsang’s organizational committee
The Uttar Pradesh Police announced on Thursday that six people had been arrested in connection with the stampede that occurred in Hathras after a satsang. According to authorities, they are all members of the organizational committee for the satsang.
On Tuesday, 121 persons, mostly women, were killed and 31 injured in a stampede following a satsang led by preacher Narayan Sakar Hari, also known as ‘Bhole Baba’, in Hathras.
The police made the first arrests on Thursday, just days after the incident.
Aligarh Inspector General Shalabh Mathur stated that six persons, four males and two women, were apprehended in the event. They are all members of the organizing committee and served as ‘Sevadars’.”
According to the police, the apprehended accused work as volunteers in crowd management. According to Shalabh Mathur, they maintain crowd management on their own and do not delegate this responsibility to the government.
Also read: Suraj Pal to Narayan Saakar Hai: The journey of a self-styled godman
UP Police announces Rs 1 lakh reward for information on prime accused
Meanwhile, ‘Mukhya sevadar’ Dev Prakash Madhukar has been named as the prime accused in the FIR. The police issued a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information that leads to Madhukar’s arrest.
The police are actively seeking a court-issued Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) to arrest Madhukar.
If required, police may question ‘Bhole Baba’, whose name is not mentioned in the FIR but is being investigated. The police are gathering information about Narayan Sakaar Hari’s background, and teams have been despatched to cities where he may have a criminal record.
According to the police FIR, more than 2.50 lakh individuals attended the religious meeting despite the fact that the government had granted permission for only 80,000 persons to participate.
The FIR also claimed that the satsang organizers attempted to conceal the true number of individuals attending the event by concealing evidence and discarding slippers and other godman followers’ items into neighboring fields.
