A case was registered against Bhole Baba, whose original name is Suraj Pal Singh, in the Hathras stampede case. Earlier today, in a message, Baba said he was depressed over the Hathras stampede incident and asked the affected families to have faith in the judiciary. Meanwhile, Dev Prakash Madhukar, the main accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede which claimed 121 lives, was arrested on Friday night.
On July 3, the state government formed a three-member judicial commission, headed by a retired high court judge, to probe the Hathras tragedy and to look into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede.
A first case has been registered against Suraj Pal Singh in connection with the Hathras stampede case. The case against him was filed before the court of Patna Chief Judicial Magistrate. Earlier today, in a video statement, Bhole Baba said he was saddened by the July 2 stampede incident. "I am deeply saddened after the incident. 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. Through my lawyer, AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives," he said.
The main accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede, Dev Prakash Madhukar, was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday night. Madhukar will on Saturday be produced before a local court. Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' of the satsang where the stampede occurred, is the only accused named in the First Information Report (FIR). He will join the probe and share information about the "anti-social elements" at the event. The Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukar's arrest.
A team of the judicial commission on Saturday reached the Hathras police line, which would apprise the commission of the probe report in connection with the Hathras incident. According to sources with the Hathras police, it had arrested Dev Prakash Madhukar from near Najafgarh on Friday, based on technical surveillance. He was later brought to Hathras. Police sources also said Madhukar had not surrendered.
In Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was apprised of the initial SIT report on the stampede. The report was submitted by the ADG Agra Zone, who was among the top officers who visited Hathras to oversee rescue and relief measures after the stampede. The confidential report contains statements by Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar, Superintendent of Police Nipun Aggarwal and senior health department officials who tended to the emergency arising out of the stampede.
On Friday, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, met the family members of the victims of the stampede. Before meeting family members in Hathras, Gandhi made a stop at Aligarh and met the kin of victims from the district. Gandhi, after meeting the families, urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to release "maximum compensation" for the victims without any delay. One of the family members who met Gandhi said he assured them that he would raise the issue in Parliament so that such incidents do not happen in future.
