Hathras, UP: Be it the provision of CCTV installation at the venue, proper entry and exit gates, or fire engine, severely safety rules were flouted at the Hathras satsang (religious congregation) where a stampede snuffed out more than 120 lives.
As many as 19 conditions, including arrangement for water, ambulance, private security apart from the above three, are to be followed by the organisers for holding public events of such large size.
Hathras district police chief Nipun Agarwal said proper pathways were not created as they way they should have been. The exit and entry gates were also not properly managed, he said, adding that the management of crowds at the satsang was entirely handled by sevaks (disciples) of self-styled preacher Narayan Sakar Hari aka ‘Bhole Baba’.
“Baba did not allow the police to enter the satsang. His sevaks were managing everything inside. They did not permit the police to enter. The police were stationed about 100 m outside,” Agarwal told ThePrint. “The sevaks did not manage the crowd properly.”
As many as 2.5 lakh people were crammed into the venue in which only 80,000 were permitted, according to the FIR.
Questions are also being raised about the role of the Uttar Pradesh Police as it allegedly granted the permission without ensuring proper arrangements were in place. The criticism is because the police force has the authority to cancel permissions to such events.
When asked why the police did not act in time to cancel the permission knowing that none of the conditions were complied with, the Hathras superintendent of police said that the investigation was also looking into this aspect. “Those found guilty will face action.”
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ankur Verma, who had cleared the permission for the event, told ThePrint that he gave his statement to the three-member judicial panel probing the stampede.
Six members, two of them women, of the satsang’s organising committee have been arrested. A reward of Rs 1 lakh has been announced for leading to the arrest of the main accused, Devprakash Madhukar, the head of the satsang organising committee.
Witnesses at the site claimed that various arrangements were lacking at the Bhole Baba’s satsang at Sikandra Rao.
Local resident Vivek Thakur, who said that he reached the venue at 11 a.m., said that no CCTV cameras were installed at the venue. “During the satsang, no ambulance was present. Ambulances arrived only after the stampede. If the provision was present, people wouldn’t have taken the bodies in private vehicles. There were also no CCTV cameras,” Thakur told ThePrint.
The stampede reportedly took place between 1.30 pm to 2.00 pm.
“There were about 5 tankers there. When 2 tankers ran out, 2 more would arrive filled with water. Sevaks were distributing water there,” another witness Savitri told ThePrint.
Both Savitri and Thakur, along with other witnesses, claimed that there was no fire brigade vehicle present at the incident site.
“We have been preparing for the satsang for the past one month, but there were no arrangements. Disciples were trying to control the crowds with sticks,” Thakur claimed.
One of the organising committee members told ThePrint that he has never attended any of Baba‘s events nor has he ever met the self-styled. He claimed that his wife often used to listen to Baba, but he himself was not involved.
Before the event, he said, the organisers had sought funds from his wife for its arrangement, which she refused to give. Instead, the member said, his wife enlisted his name as a volunteer to distribute water at the venue.
“But I have never gone. Not before and not now. There were many people whose names were written down, but they have never participated in the event,” he claimed. “They had told my wife to give my name, and they would print it on posters that would be put up everywhere.”
The man claimed that many people’s names were written down in this manner.
Other than Decprakash Madhukar, the head of the satsang organising committee, the FIR mentions other unnamed organisers as accused. A hoarding at the venue site shows 78 members of the organising committee and their contact numbers.
Elaborating further, he explained that Baba’s committee members arrange for such events in their areas whenever satsangs are held. “This is managed by a temporary volunteer committee.”
Meanwhile, eye-witness Thakur said that the local administration granted permission to organise such a large event in a nearly 5-acre vacant field, behind which there is a dense wooded area.
The main entry to the venue was facing towards the side of a busy highway, he said, adding that the crowd was so large that it took two hours just to cover one kilometre.
“Even if there hadn’t been such a large crowd, a gate facing towards the highway is inherently dangerous. It increases the risks of accidents. Secondly, on that day, there was only one exit gate and that, too, was narrowed because of Baba’s hoarding,” Thakur told ThePrint.
The venue also gets muddy when it rains given the open space, he added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)