Uttar Pradesh CM Suspends 6 Officials After SIT Submits Hathras Stampede Report

Lucknow: After the SIT submitted its report on the Hathras stampede on Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered suspension of six officials of the district administration, including the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and Circle Officer (CO), stated media reports.

SIT submits report blames organisers for stampede
A 300-page report submitted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday in connection to its probe in the recent stampede at Hathras claimed that the organizing committee of the ‘Satsang’ was responsible for inviting more people than the permissible limit. The report was submitted to the state government. The SIT has recorded the statements of 119 persons.
According to a news report by ANI, the committee had failed to make adequate arrangements for the event and the officials had not reviewed the site despite having granted permission to the organizers, the SIT report revealed.
The SIT report also included the statements of the kin of the deceased and injured devotees, the DM of Hathras, Ashish Kumar, SP Nipun Agarwal, SDM, and CO Sikandrarao and other police personnel who were on duty on the day of stampede, July 2. ADG Agra Zone Anupam Kulshreshtha and Aligarh Commissioner Chaitra V were present during submission of the report, ANI reported.

‘SC accorded hearing date to PIL on Hathras’
The Chief Justice of India, Justice CY Chandrachud, on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court had accorded a date of hearing to the PIL seeking investigation into the Hathras Stamped. About 121 were killed in the stampede.

News agency, PTI, reported that the CJI said he had ordered listing of the plea on Monday itself. He made the remark when petitioner and advocate Vishal Tiwari submitted for urgent hearing of the PIL.

According to reports, the PIL seeks the appointment of a five-member expert committee under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the incident. It also sought a direction for the Uttar Pradesh government for submission of a status report on the incident and initiation of legal action against the authorities and other officials.

Media reports claimed over 2.5 lakh devotees had gathered in Phulrai village of Hathras distric on July 2 for ‘Satsang’ by Baba Narayan Hari, popular as ‘Bhole Baba.’

‘Young unmarried women surrounded Bhole Baba at Satsang’
According to a news report by Times Now, an eyewitness claimed that ‘Bhole Baba’ was always surrounded by about 1000 Gopis or young unmarried women at his ‘Satsang.’ “They used to dance around him and stay with him,” the eyewitness alleged in the report.

Earlier on Monday, an eyewitness to the incident claimed in a report by ANI that the attempt by a large number of devotees to collect ‘Baba’s Charan Dhul’ (soil from the feet of the godman) led to the stampede.

“The incident happened after ‘Baba’ announced that devotees should take soil from around his feet. The devotees rushed to collect the soil and started falling over and piling up,” Sudhir Pratap Singh from Mughalgarhi village told ANI.

However, the godman’s lawyer, AP Singh, claimed that the stampede was caused by unidentified men who sprayed poison during the event.