Hathras: Residents of Fulrai in UP’s Hathras district, where a stampede left at least 121 people dead Tuesday, have told ThePrint that 12 years ago too, a satsang organised in their village by the same self-styled godman saw a stampede that claimed several lives.
Mangal Yadav, who has stayed over 40 years in Fulrai where he owns a garment shop, said he had forbidden his family members from attending Tuesday’s satsang. “Twelve years ago, there was a similar event of the Baba, which also led to a stampede and some deaths. That satsang was held a kilometre away from the current location (where Tuesday’s satsang was held),” he claimed.
Another Fulrai resident echoed Yadav’s claims. “Earlier, this road was smaller. There wasn’t a highway back then. At that time, fewer people knew about this Baba, and there wasn’t as much publicity. The crowd was smaller. Had there been more people, a major incident could have happened even then,” he said, not wanting to be named.
Others present at the stampede site Wednesday alleged that the police and administration were underreporting the death toll. They believe the actual number is around 300 as some of the bodies were taken by families directly to their homes instead of local hospitals, and a few of the godman’s sevaks were also among the deceased.
“The police administration is reporting lower numbers to save themselves. Many people took the bodies and went home,” a villager told ThePrint, not wanting to be named.
Sikandar Rao Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ankur Verma said he was the one who had granted permission for the event, and people from states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand attended the satsang. He denied the claims of a higher death toll.
“That’s not true. Most of the attendees were from outside the area. There were fewer local people,” he told ThePrint. Asked about the claims of a similar incident having occurred 12 years ago, he said he was not aware of it and does not have any record of it.
Eyewitnesses also told ThePrint that the stampede began when the attendees started following self-styled preacher Narayan Sakar Hari, better known as ‘Bhole Baba’, in hordes for ‘darshan’ as he prematurely left the satsang venue around 2 pm. They also claimed that the preacher’s sevadars beat attendees with sticks when they tried to take videos, and seized their phones.
Rajkumar, who was at the venue when the stampede happened, said there were few police officers at the site, while around 2,000 of the Baba’s sevadars were managing the satsang. “After the incident, when people started helping those who were trapped, others began recording videos. The sevadars seized their phones and turned them off. They collected the victims’ footwear and threw them into the fields,” he told ThePrint.
Fulrai resident Gaurav Yadav said Bhole Baba’s sevadars had been promoting the event for a month, saying it would go on for four hours, but the godman left the satsang early.
“Why couldn’t Baba meet his devotees? Why did he run away? Why haven’t the police caught him?” he asked.
‘Godman claimed to be incarnation of Vishnu’
The satsang venue is located close to the Kanpur-Aligarh highway, which has a large open field on one side and farmland on the other. After leaving the venue, the godman made his way towards the highway, and the attendees rushed towards him, said eyewitnesses. In the process, those standing on the highway were pushed into the farmland, which is four feet lower than the highway.
Fulrai resident Yadav, quoted earlier, said Bhole Baba had his own security personnel, who were dressed in black attire. He added that the godman claimed to be an incarnation of Hindu god Vishnu, and had more women followers as he would claim to resolve domestic issues. Women would go to him for help with household disputes and husbands turning to alcoholism.
The Jatav community are the godman’s main followers, villagers said. At the satsang venue, the crowd stretched for about 5 kilometres.
A team of forensic experts arrived at the site Wednesday morning with a dog squad to gather evidence. The team gathered around 10 bags of shoes, slippers, clothes, and mobile phones found at the stampede site. They will also investigate what caused the incident.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also arrived at the site Wednesday afternoon. Later, he announced a judicial probe, and said the government may put in place a standard operating procedure for the organisation of such events.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)