121 people, mostly women and children, died in the stampede during a congregation. The SIT probing the case charged 11 individuals, including those responsible for securing the event’s permits.
The Hathras Police submitted a 3,200-page chargesheet on the July 2 stampede at the Narayan Sakar Hari ‘Bhole Baba’ congregation in Fulari village, which killed 121 people, mostly women and children.
The Special Investigation Team probing the case charged 11 individuals, including those responsible for securing the event’s permits. In the chargesheet, Surajpal Singh, alias ‘Bhole Baba’, the self-proclaimed ‘godman’, was not named as an accused. Defence lawyer A.P. Singh told the media that the court will provide copies of the chargesheet to the accused on October 4.
“The chargesheet in the case has been filed,” Mr. Singh said. On October 1, 10 accused, including main organiser Dev Prakash Madhukar, appeared before the local court.
The stampede occurred during a congregation in Fulrai village. State authorities and law enforcement agencies attributed the incident to mismanagement, adding the crowd exceeded 2.5 lakh people, far surpassing the permitted limit of 80,000. The stampede occurred when people attempted to leave the religious gathering.
A First Information Report (FIR) was filed on July 2 under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, wrongful restraint and causing the disappearance of evidence.
The godman’s lawyer had claimed that “some poisonous substance” sprayed by “unidentified men” triggered the stampede.
Later, the State government formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired High Court judge to probe the incident and also look into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede. Six ‘sevadars’ who were part of the organising committee, including Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused, were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Published - October 02, 2024 05:02 pm IST
