new delhi, july 2
The Hathras stampede, in which 121 people, mostly women and children, were killed, completed one year on Wednesday but the cause of the tragedy is yet to be established and the people responsible for the deaths are yet to be punished. On July 2 last year, the stampede occurred at the conclusion of a satsang of Surajpal Baba alias Narayan Hari Sakar, about six kilometers from Sikandararau. While 121 people died in the incident, more than 250 others were injured.
While 11 accused in the case are on bail, with 676 witnesses and 31 court dates, the debate is still on who is responsible for the tragedy.
Meanwhile the judicial probe ordered by the UP government completed its investigation and submitted a report, accusing the state government machinery of laxity. Surprisingly, Surajpal Baba had been given a clean chit by everyone, including the police charge sheet and the judicial probe.
The matter is still sub-judice in the court with the police filing a 3,200-page chargesheet against the 11 accused, all volunteers at the Narayan Hari Sakar ashram involved in holding the satsang.
Currently, the case is under the consideration of the court of Additional Sessions Judge Court No-1 Mahendra Srivastava and the next hearing is on July 19.
The police, in its FIR, had blamed the organisers for the mishap who had sought permission for 80,000 people while the actual number of people who attended the satsang was over 2.50 lakh. In the chargesheet, chief satsang volunteer Dev Prakash Madhukar has been made the prime accused.
After the satsang, when the devotees started rushing out at around 2 pm, their route was blocked by the organizers. As millions of devotees started coming out of the venue, some started sitting down on the ground, leading to the stampede. Hence the chargesheer blamed the organizers and volunteers for the tragedy.
The main accused in the case, Devprakash Madhukar, Megh Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Manju Devi, Manju Yadav, Ram Ladete, Upendra Singh, Sanju Kumar, Ramprakash Shakya, Durvesh Kumar, and Dalveer Singh, all volunteers at the venue, were released on bail after arrest.
