New Delhi:

The district official – a sub divisional magistrate – who permitted ‘godman’ Bhole Baba’s ‘prayer meet’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, at which a stampede killed 121 people – never inspected the venue, a team investigating the tragedy said in a report submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The SIT report also said the event organisers and local administration, including the police, were negligent and held them responsible, stating they “failed to make adequate arrangements” for so large a crowd. Neither local officials nor the cops took the event “seriously”, the report said.

That the organisers – who have been held “primarily responsible” involved, or hired, individuals without police verification has been held up as an example of that negligence.

And, in a lapse of protocol, local police did not inform, as soon as they should have, their seniors of the stampede and the deaths, the report said. The probe team also echoed the Chief Minister in suggesting a “conspiracy” behind the tragedy, and has recommended a more detailed investigation.

The report is based on statements from 125 people – from eyewitnesses and survivors to police and district officials. In addition, news reports and photographs and video footage were also examined.

Hathras (UP):

The Hathras stampede tragedy has a number – 123; 123 lives lost, many families devastated. The political blame game and the rumble of government machinery often drowns out the wails of bereaved families.

For those who lost their relatives in the stampede at a ‘satsang’ of Narayan Sakar Hari aka ‘Bhole Baba’, even mourning is on pause. They go from one mortuary to the other to identify bodies. When they find their own, there is loss. When they don’t, they head to the next one. The injured are scattered across multiple hospitals, making it a daunting task for their relatives to find them.

Many Still Missing

Urmila Devi came to the ‘satsang’ with her 16-year-old granddaughter, and they separated when the chaos broke out. Since Wednesday night, the elderly woman has been to three district hospitals in Hathras and Etah to look for her, but without any success.

“I looked in the pandal, screamed out her name. When I did not find her, I started visiting the hospitals. I have not found her yet,” she told NDTV yesterday.

Urmila Devi does not have a phone and sent word to her elder son through an acquaintance. “I don’t know if he even knows his daughter is missing.”

NDTV found some people looking for a woman relative. They had been to hospitals in Aligarh, Hathras and Etah, but could not find her.

Anger Against Godman

The stampede at the ‘satsang’, the police say, broke out when the self-styled godman was leaving and his followers rushed to collect dust stirred up by his car. The godman’s guards pushed some of the followers, triggering the stampede. Two days on, ‘Bhole Baba’ remains missing and has even put out a statement from an unknown location; his lawyer has said he will cooperate with investigators.

For some of his ardent followers who are now in hospital, anger is replacing faith. “If the baba really has powers and cares about us, he should come here and heal us. He should help us in treatment,” said a woman who fractured her hand in the chaos. Her five-year-old grandson was also injured and is recovering in the same hospital.

Binod, a resident of Hathras, has torn down posters of ‘Bhole baba’ at his home as he tries to cope with the loss of his whole family – his mother Jaya, wife Rajkumari and daughter Bhumi died in the stampede. “I was away, I came to know about the stampede in the evening. I rushed home to find they are all dead,” he said, breaking into tears.

Where Does The Buck Stop

In the aftermath of the tragedy, a political blame game has begun and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said the investigation will also focus on whether a “conspiracy” is behind the tragedy. Akhilesh Yadav, chief of main opposition Samajwadi Party, has held the BJP government fully responsible for the incident.

The godman’s lawyer has blamed “anti-social elements”, insisting that it was a “planned conspiracy”.

The FIR does not name the ‘godman’ at all, and his aide and the event’s main organiser is the main accused. The FIR also appears to clear the local administration of all responsibility and blames the organisers for mismanagement. The state government, however, has assured that no one who is guilty will be spared.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing the incident. The state government has also set up a three-member panel headed by a retired High Court judge to investigate the stampede tragedy.