New Delhi: Sevadars failing to stop overcrowding, pushing around devotees and wrongfully restraining them, not to mention mismanagement and negligence—a chargesheet filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police cites these factors for the stampede that killed 121 people at a religious gathering in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras in July.
The UP Police’s chargesheet, however, does not mention Narayan Sakar Hari ‘Bhole Baba’ or Surajpal Singh—the self-styled godman who held the satsang in Hathras’s Fulrai village. His role is still a matter of investigation, sources told ThePrint, adding that he was yet to be questioned. A senior officer said ‘Bhole Baba’ would be interrogated when required as the probe was still ongoing.
The 3,200-page chargesheet was filed in court Tuesday against 11 accused under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for culpable homicide, attempt to commit culpable homicide and wrongfully restraining a person, as well as Section 7 (molesting a person to prejudice of employment or business) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (CLA) of 1932.
“The chargesheet mentions how sevadars misguided authorities by taking permission for only 80,000 people but over 2.5 lakh ended up attending the satsang. Their negligence and mismanagement led to the stampede. They also manhandled devotees and even wrongfully restrained people as they tried to prevent the stampede,” the senior officer said.
The chargesheet named the following people: Dev Prakash Madhukar (the event’s chief organiser), Megh Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Manju Devi, Manju Yadav, Ram Ladhete, Upendra Singh, Sanju Kumar, Ram Prakash Shakya, Durvesh Kumar, and Dalveer Singh.
Madhukar, the ‘mukhya sevadar’, is the main accused. He was also the primary accused in the FIR filed after the incident.
“Madhukar was well aware that the number of attendees was crossing the limit granted. He didn’t take any action and didn’t act responsibly,” another officer said, adding that others responsible would be named in supplementary chargesheets.
The Uttar Pradesh government had established a judicial inquiry panel and a special investigation team to probe the tragic incident that took place on 2 July. The judicial commission is led by retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava.
A week after the incident, the SIT filed a report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Six officials were suspended, including the local sub-divisional magistrate, the tehsildar, the circle officer, and the in-charge of the Sikandra Rau police station.
The two women accused, Manju Devi and Manju Yadav, received interim bail from the court.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)