Hathras Witness: Stampede Erupted Over Soil From Godsman’s Feet

A week after 121 people lost their lives during a religious gathering in Hathras, an eyewitness to the incident has claimed that the attempt by a large number of devotees to collect “Baba’s Charan Dhul” (soil from the feet of the godman) led to the stampede. Sudhir Pratap Singh from Mughalgarhi village said, “The incident happened after ‘Baba’ announced that devotees should take soil from around his feet. The devotees rushed to collect the soil in a hurry but started falling over and piling up.”

“Baba’s convoy left from the spot amid the stampede. Only locals and administration helped the devotees who were present there,” Singh said. The Uttar Pradesh Judicial Commission team recorded statements of several eyewitnesses in the Hathras stampede case. Meanwhile, the godman’s advocate AP Singh claimed that the mishap was caused after some unidentified men sprayed poison during the event. Singh claimed that the group of conspirators fled the venue after causing the stampede. “The stampede incident at the Satsang was not an accident but a conspiracy,” the lawyer said. “Unidentified men were carrying poisonous sprays. They ran while spraying the poisonous spray and it looked like a part of a pre-planned conspiracy. Many people lost their consciousness. I urge the Special Investigation Team to investigate those behind this incident,” Singh told ANI on Saturday. The incident took place at a religious ‘Satsang’ event of self-styled godman Suraj Pal, alias ‘Bhole Baba’, in Fulari village, Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, on July 2.

Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede incident, was sent to 14 days of judicial custody after being produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Saturday. The court inquired if he had written permission for the event and from whom it was obtained. Madhukar replied that he received permission from the SDM for a gathering of 80,000 people. When asked if the event was publicized, Madhukar denied doing so. Madhukar had been absconding, and a reward of Rs 1 lakh was announced for information leading to his arrest. He was finally apprehended on July 5 in the national capital. Additionally, two other accused, Ramprakash Shakya and Sanju Yadav, were also arrested, according to the police. On Saturday, ‘Bhole Baba’ in a video statement said that “those who created the chaos will not be spared. The self-styled godman Suraj Pal, who also goes by the name of Narayan Sakar Hari expressed his grief and condoled the deaths at the tragedy. “I am deeply saddened by the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that those who created the chaos will not be spared. Through my lawyer AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives,” the ‘Baba’ said.