FIR filed against organisers as devastated families mourn
People gather where the stampede happened. Pics/PTI
The death toll in the stampede that broke out in a ‘satsang’ here rose to 121 on Wednesday and police filed an FIR against the organisers, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people crammed into a venue in which only 80,000 were permitted.
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Bags and other belongings lying at the scene
A day after the stampede in Phulrai village at a congregation by religious preacher Bhole Baba snuffed out the lives of their loved ones, stunned families tried to come to terms with their loss dazed at how an afternoon out could have ended in such tragedy. Crowds gathered around hospitals, some looking for those missing, some there to identify bodies and others tending to the injured.
A forensic team investigates the scene. Pic/PTI
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met those injured in the stampede — which took place at around 3.30 pm when the Baba was leaving the venue with some accounts saying people slipped in the slush as they ran after the preacher’s car. “The chief minister held a meeting with officials in the circuit house and met the injured in district hospitals,” a government official said.
Residents defend Bhole Baba
A day after the stampede in Hathras where more than 100 people were killed, the residents of controversial preacher Bhole Baba’s native village Bahadurnagar in Kasganj district praised him for never asking for any donation from anyone. Baba, used to work in the police department. He left his job became a religious preacher after he discovered that the people got attached to his ideas and congregated for his ‘satsang’.
Anti-social elements behind stampede: Lawyer
A lawyer representing Bhole Baba claimed that anti-social elements were behind stampede here in which 121 people died, and contradicted preliminary reports that the tragedy struck when his followers rushed to collect the soil touched by his feet. “Some anti-social elements hatched a conspiracy. When Narayan Saakar Hari left the venue, his vehicles left, our volunteers and followers failed to understand what was happening due to the conspiracy. This was done as per a plan and should be investigated,” lawyer A P Singh told PTI.
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