New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Police have pinned the blame for Tuesday’s Hathras stampede — in which at least 121 people, mostly women lost their lives — on the organisers of the satsang. However, both the police responsible for maintaining law and order and the district administration also failed in their duty to prevent such a disaster.
According to a senior police officer, while the organisers must comply with all conditions, it is the police’s duty to ensure that proper arrangements are in place for large events through field checks and meetings at the planning stage.
Moreover, government officials should play a greater role in the management of such large gatherings and if the district administration’s estimate of over 2.5 lakh devotees attending the satsang is correct, then top district officials were expected to be physically present to manage the assembly, besides being involved right at the planning stage, S.N. Shrivastava, former Delhi Police Commissioner, told ThePrint.
Failing to do that constitutes a gross lapse and is a “collective failure”, the police officer quoted above said.
At the event, be it the provision of CCTV installation at the venue, proper entry and exit gates, a fire engine, medical assistance on standby — nothing was in place.
As many as 19 conditions, including arrangement for water, ambulance and private security, are to be followed by the organisers for holding public events of such large size, which they did not.
“For any such event, there are terms and conditions for grant of permission that must be complied with. While the organisers are duty-bound to follow these, the police must manage the event depending on the commitment. Moreover, if field checks reveal non-compliance, the police have the power to cancel the permission,” a second senior police officer said.
For any such gathering, a separate department of the police also carries out an intelligence assessment. The team analyses past events held by organisers to check previous norm violations and estimated attendance. The district police are then accordingly advised on the number of police personnel required for the event. Several meetings are also held with the organisers during the planning stage to prepare for any contingency, according to the officer.
Moreover, for any such event, the police are to carry out advanced field checks to ensure that all conditions, such as sufficient entry and exit points, fire safety and medical teams are in place. If not, it can lead to cancellation of the permission.
“This needs to be probed thoroughly by the UP government to fix accountability,” the second officer said.
Speaking to ThePrint, Acting Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said an inquiry into the matter is on and accountability will be fixed.
“A Special Investigating Team (SIT) has been formed and they are examining what went wrong,” he said.
When asked if it was a lapse on the police’s end, he said that senior officers did carry out a field visit before the event, and the rest is a matter of investigation.
“There was sufficient deployment in the area. The UP Police have always managed massive congregations well. Through the election season, several such rallies were carried out peacefully. What went wrong here, whether it was deliberate, laxity or just human error, is a matter of investigation,” he said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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