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Bags and other belongings lying at the scene a day after a massive stampede that took place during a ‘satsang’ in Sikandara Rao area in Hathras district. (Photo: PTI)
The 3,200-page chargesheet submitted to a Hathras court on Tuesday does not include the name of self-proclaimed godman Surajpal, also known as Bhole Baba. He is not listed among the 11 accused, which includes two female volunteers, related to the stampede that resulted in 121 deaths in Phulrai village on July 2.
Surajpal, who is also referred to as Narayan Sakar Hari, was not mentioned in the FIR filed shortly after the incident either. Those named in the chargesheet are Dev Prakash Madhukar (the event’s chief organiser), Megh Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Manju Devi, Manju Yadav, Ram Ladhete, Upendra Singh, Sanju Kumar, Ram Prakash Shakya, Durvesh Kumar, and Dalveer Singh. Madhukar is identified as the primary accused in both the FIR and the chargesheet.
Additional Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Singh confirmed that the chargesheet was filed against the 11 identified individuals on Tuesday.
Following the tragedy, the Uttar Pradesh government formed a Special Investigation Team and a judicial commission to probe the stampede. The chargesheet will be provided to the accused on October 4, during the next scheduled hearing in the court of the Hathras chief judicial magistrate.
The Hathras police have rejected claims of being ‘lenient’ towards Surajpal, asserting that the investigation remains active.
“Investigation is an ongoing process and is on in this case too. It is too early to jump to any conclusion based on the chargesheet filed now,” said ASP Ashok Kumar Singh.
The defense attorney for the accused, AP Singh said that the accused have not yet received copies of the chargesheet, with the court scheduling October 4 as the date for their availability.
“Out of the 11 named and arrested in the case, two of the women accused, Manju Devi and Manju Yadav, have obtained interim bail from the Allahabad high court but only one is out of jail as, in the case of Manju Yadav, bail bonds are to be submitted,” AP Singh said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
The FIR was filed against Madhukar and others for allegedly deceiving the authorities by requesting permission for a gathering of 80,000 devotees while over 200,000 people attended the religious event in Phulrai village.
The FIR includes several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), specifically 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).
The stampede occurred during a satsang led by Surajpal, who is from Bahadur Nagar village in the Patiyali tehsil of Kasganj district in Uttar Pradesh. He reappeared in Bahadur Nagar on July 17, 15 days after the tragedy, and spoke to the media to express his sorrow over the deaths that occurred at his satsang.
In a video statement given to news agency ANI, Bhole Baba said, “I am deeply saddened after the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared.”
[With agency inputs]
First Published: Oct 03 2024 | 10:53 AM IST
