Six people have been arrested in the Hathras stampede case that claimed about 121 lives when a huge crowd of near about 2.5 lakh people came together in a religious gathering in Hathras. In the wake of the devastating stampede, Aligarh Inspector General (IG) Shalabh Mathur, during a press briefing on Thursday, announced that the investigation in the case is still underway as the authorities probe into the criminal history of the central figure of the entire religious event, popularly known as ‘Bhole Baba’ amongst the masses.
“When the stampede occurred the six servitors who are now arrested had run away from the site. Rs 1 lakh reward is being announced on the arrest of the main accused Prakash Madhukar. Soon, a non-bailable warrant will be issued against him. We will also investigate if this incident occurred due to a conspiracy,” said Mathur.
“There have been teams formulated to locate Devprakash madhukar,” IG mathur, while addressing reporters, stated that a reward of Rs 1 lakh. has been placed on the prime suspect chief sevadar Devprakash Madhukar and he stated that the police will also be issuing a non-bailable warrant against him.
#WATCH | On Hathras stampede incident, Aligarh IG Shalabh Mathur says, “We are inquiring about ‘Bhole Baba’s’ criminal history. Permission for the event was not taken in his name. ” pic.twitter.com/5mvGjDLeCY
— ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2024
IG Mathur further went on to disclose that the permission for the event was not oficially granted in the name of the godmen. He further stated that the authorities might also interrogate ‘Bhole Baba,’ who is identified to be Narayan Sakaar Hari. According to the IG, the accused is under investigation even if he was not mentioned in the FIR. IG Mathur stated that the police is consistently gathering more information about Bhole Baba’s history and criminal records.
The stampede occurred on Tuesday afternoon when thousands of devotees had assembled near Phulrai village in the Sikandrarau area to attend Bhole Baba’s ‘satsang.’ The chaos erupted around 3:30 pm as Bhole Baba was leaving the venue.
The majority of the victims who lost their lives in the stampede or were seriously injure in the stampede were women and children. Many families are still desperately searching for their missing loved ones. Outside the Sikandra Rao Community Health Centre which was the closest medical facility to the incident where the victims were transported in order to provide them with immediate medical aid.
