Uttar Pradesh Police Arrest Six in Connection with Hathras Stampede

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested six people in connection with the Hathras Stampede case. The Hathras religious event organised in honour of Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari claimed the lives of at least 121 people. As per reports, the arrested persons include 4 men and 2 female ‘Sevadars’ (Satsang Volunteers).

“When the stampede occurred the six servitors who are now arrested had ran away from the site. ₹1 lakh reward is being announced on the arrest of the main accused Prakash Madhukar. Soon, a non-bail able warrant will be issued against him. We will also investigate if this incident occurred due to a conspiracy,” said Inspector General Shalabh Mathur, Aligarh Range.

According to Mathur, the organisers of the religious event made the arrangements themselves and did not allow the police. In a bid to control the crowd, the volunteers and others in charge of security began pushing people back. Several devotees fell around an embankment and were crushed by the crowd. Amid the chaos, other attendees began running, triggering a stampede.

"We will make arrests based on what the investigation reveals. We will question the baba if necessary, it is too early to say or comment whether he has a role. He has not been named in the FIR, which has held the organisers responsible. The permission was taken by the organising committee and members of the panel have been arrested. If the role of other people is revealed during Madhukar's questioning, we will take action accordingly," he added.

The accident took place on Tuesday when over 2 lakh of people gathered at a specially laid tent in the Rati Bhanpur village in the Sikandra Rau area of Hathras district for a ‘Satsang’. According to the police, massive overcrowding, insufficient exits, bad weather, and other factors may have contributed to the high death toll. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on July 3 ordered a judicial probe led by retired High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava and two other retired IAS officers Hemant Rao and Bhavesh Kumar Singh into the incident.