(Image source from: x.com/CMOfficeUP)
On Tuesday, 121 people suffocated and their bodies piled up in a stampede at a religious congregation in Hatteras, the worst tragedy in recent years. Most of the victims were women. According to the FIR, about 2.5 million people attended the event even though only 80,000 had permits. The stampede occurred when people were returning home after performing a 'satsanga' led by a preacher named Bhorle Baba at Phullai village in the district. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a judicial probe into the Hatteras attack, a day after the tragic incident killed 121 people, most of them women and children. Six of the dead were from other states - four from Haryana and one each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Yogi said. The UP CM along with the organizers blamed the 'Sudars' (helpers) for the death of the devotees. “They (Savadars) should have helped control the crowd. But instead, the devotees died one by one as the Swadars fled the scene of stampede,” he said.
It was a mad dash to collect the 'dust' (Raj in local parlance) on 'Bole Baba's feet', an attempt to escape the oppressive and very humid environment, the ambiguous decision of Baba's army to block the 'exit' , without offering anything I witnessed the aftermath of a stampede at a religious ceremony in Hatteras on Tuesday in which more than 100 people, including women and children, were killed in a stampede at a religious festival in Sikanda Rao tehsil in Uttar Pradesh, said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a message of condolence over the attack in Uttar Pradesh. My condolences go out to the deceased and their families and I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured. To prevent the crowd from approaching Baba, the security officials and Sodar began pushing the crowd. This caused several people to fall and a large crowd formed.
— CM Office, GoUP (@CMOfficeUP) July 3, 2024
Several deficiencies were found in the organization of the entire religious event in Hadras, which led to the tragic explosion on Tuesday that killed 121 people and injured several others. Sources in the Uttar Pradesh police point to serious lapses that led to the tragedy, from entry and exit points to lack of emergency routes even as VVIP arrangements were made for religious leader 'Bole Baba'. Uttar Pradesh police on Wednesday filed a case against organizers of a religious community in Hadras where 121 people were killed in a stampede, accusing them of hiding evidence and violating the terms of an event that only 80,000 people were allowed to attend.
However, the community leader or 'satsang', Jagat Guru Sagar Vishwahari, is not mentioned in the FIR, though he is included in the complaint. The FIR alleges that the organizers concealed the actual number of devotees seeking permission for the 'satsang', did not cooperate with the traffic controller and hid evidence after the blast. Baba's car was moving. The FIR appears to have given a clean slate to the police and the administration, who said they were doing their best to utilize the available evidence. A senior official told PTI that "senior sevadar" Devprakash Madhukar and other organizers have been named in the first information report (FIR) filed at the Chikanda Rao police station late on Tuesday.
(Video Source: Uttar Pradesh Government Official)
