Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday inspected the site in Hathras where a stampede broke out during a religious event a day before and ordered a judicial inquiry to determine whether it was an accident or a conspiracy. The CM also said that special operating procedures (SOPs) would be issued to prevent a repeat.
Other than announcing financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh (Rs 2 lakh each from state and Centre) for the family of every deceased, the chief minister also said that the UP government would bear the schooling expenses of the children affected by the tragedy.
At least 121 people, including 106 women and seven children, were killed and over 250 were seriously injured after the stampede broke out during a satsang (prayer meeting). The function was addressed by self-styled godman Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari, who also calls himself Bhole Baba, and was attended by thousands in Phulrai village of Sikanda Rau tehsil of Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district.
“In the incident around 121 devotees, not only from UP but also from neighbouring states like Haryana and Rajasthan have lost their lives in the stampede which broke out at a religious event, held in Hathras on Tuesday,” Yogi Adityanath said while addressing a press briefing.
The chief minister said that a majority of those who died were from 16 districts of UP including Hathras, Badaun, Kasganj, Aligarh, Shahjahanpur, Agra, Gautam Budh Nagar, Mathura, and Lakhimpur Khiri. Two were from Madhya Pradesh and four others from Rajasthan.
“On the basis of my interaction with the survivors, it came to my notice that the incident took place when some women rushed after the preacher who addressed the satsang to touch his feet when they were stopped by the sevadars (volunteers) and the stampede occurred,” the UP CM said.
The chief minister said that the first priority of the state government was to carry out relief work, which would be followed by interrogation of the accused, and then responsibility would be fixed. “In such events, the organisers manage the gathering while the police force or administrative officials generally remain on the outer ring. Hence, it is a matter of investigation where things went wrong,” he said.
The CM said that after things went out of control, the sevadars should have helped the victims instead of running away. “We have formed an SIT under ADG Agra that would investigate the matter as there are many points which are yet to be explored,” he said.
On the question of why godman Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari’s name was not included in the first information report, the CM said that registering an FIR is the first step of any such investigation. “In case the investigating agency finds more people guilty, more names would be included in the FIR,” he added.
The judicial inquiry into the incident would be led by a retired high court judge along with senior officials from the police and UP government. “Those who are behind the incident would be held responsible and would be punished,” vowed the CM.
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