Lucknow Press
Hathras. 121 devotees died in a stampede during a satsang on July 2 in Hathras district of UP. Within a week of the accident, the 300-page investigation report of the SIT has been sent to the government. On Tuesday, this report was presented before Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. There is no mention of Bhole Baba’s name in the report. The organizers and officers have been held responsible. Taking strict action, the Yogi Government has suspended six people including the SDM, CO and Tehsildar of Sikandarmau. These include outpost in-charge Kachora and outpost in-charge Pora.
The SIT report states that the organizers are the main culprits. The accountability of the local administration has also been fixed. The two-member investigation committee said that a conspiracy behind the accident cannot be ruled out. A thorough investigation is needed. The Hathras accident happened due to the negligence of the organizers. Adequate arrangements were not made by inviting the crowd. The local police and administration officials did not take the event seriously. Also, proper information was not given to senior officials.
In its preliminary investigation, the SIT has held the event organisers primarily responsible for the accident on the basis of eyewitnesses and other evidence. On the basis of the investigation and proceedings conducted so far, the investigation committee has not ruled out any major conspiracy behind the accident and has stated the need for a thorough investigation. The investigation committee has also found the event organisers and the tehsil level police and administration guilty. The local SDM, CO, tehsildar, inspector, outpost in-charge are responsible for negligence in discharging their duties.
Sub-district magistrate Sikandrarao granted permission for the event without inspecting the venue and did not inform the senior officials. The program was not taken seriously by the officials and the senior officials were not informed. The SIT has recommended action against the concerned officials. Sub-district magistrate Sikandrarao, police circle officer Sikandrarao, police station head Sikandrarao, tehsildar Sikandrarao, outpost in-charge Kachora and outpost in-charge Pora have been suspended.
The organizers took permission to organize the program by hiding facts. The conditions applicable for permission were not followed. The organizers did not make adequate and smooth arrangements by inviting unexpected crowd. Nor were the conditions of permission given by the local administration for the program followed. People associated with the organizing committee have been found guilty of creating chaos. The people added by them without proper police verification caused chaos. The organizing committee misbehaved with the police. An attempt was made to stop the local police from inspecting the event venue. The satsang performers and the crowd were allowed to meet each other without any security arrangements. In view of the huge crowd, no barricading or passage arrangements were made here and when the accident occurred, the members of the organizing committee fled from the spot.
UP Information Director Shishir said that the SIT has submitted its report to the state government. However, he did not give details about the report. The SIT formed to investigate the reasons behind the incident included Agra Zone Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Anupam Kulshreshtha and Aligarh Divisional Commissioner. A separate judicial commission headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, retired IPS Hemant Rao and retired IPS Bhavesh Kumar Singh is also investigating the Hathras stampede case.
