Spiritual gathering ends in tragic disaster as stampede leaves over 100 people dead in UP

On the fateful day of July 2, lakhs of people attended a 'Satsang' (religious congregation) organized by Bhole Baba, also known as Narayan Saakar Hari, in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, unaware that many would never return from the spiritual gathering.

As news of the stampede at the religious gathering broke, the death toll began to rise, and as per the latest updates, it stands at 121 people, including 106 women and seven children while 28 others have been injured.

Initially, officials in Etah district had confirmed the deaths of 27 people while Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar had said that according to numbers received from the community health center, 50-60 people were killed.

However, later in the evening, Inspector General (Aligarh Range) Shalabh Mathur, said the number had gone up to 116 and today it was said the number has gone up to 121.

"The stampede broke out in Phulrai village within the Sikandra Rao police station limits in Hathras. This was a private event and permission had been given by the sub-divisional magistrate. Security arrangements were made by the administration but the other arrangements were supposed to be made by the organizers," Hathras DM was quoted as saying.

The event was organized by the self-styled godman, whose original name is Suraj Pal and was held at his 'ashram' in Mainpuri, about 100 km from near the Phulrai village.

The 'baba' is likely to be arrested as many senior police officials have reached the Hathras stampede site, while others are at his ashram, the Ram Kutir Charitable Trust.

A forensic unit and a dog squad visited the stampede site including teams of the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

Reportedly the Satsang was organized in honor of the local godman, and the stampede broke out as the crowd began to leave. According to sources, the devotees were stopped from leaving until Baba Bhole's car left, which caused a big crowd build-up in a small area.

An FIR has been lodged against the Satsang organizers which noted that the permission was granted for only 80,000 people but more than 2.5 lakh devotees attended the event.

They have been charged under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant), and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) according to the new criminal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

"Due to the uncontrollable crowd leaving the venue, devotees sitting on the ground were crushed. On the other side of the road, the crowd running in the water and mud-filled fields was forcibly stopped by the organizing committee with sticks, due to which the pressure of the crowd kept increasing and women, children, and men kept getting crushed," the FIR said.

Several bodies were brought to the Community Health Centre in buses and tempos in the presence of crying relatives.

The autopsy in most cases showed that asphyxia due to compression was the main cause of death among the victims brought to the district hospital in neighboring Etah.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a high-level committee to investigate the incident which will be headed by the Additional Director General of Police, Agra, and the Aligarh Commissioner.

A compensation of ₹ 2 lakh each has also been announced for the families of the dead and ₹ 50,000 for the injured by the state government.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed their condolences to the families of the victims. The Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, also expressed his condolences in the Lok Sabha, and asked workers from the INDIA alliance to help with the rescue and relief efforts.

Who is the self-styled godman
Suraj Pal was born in Bahadur Nagari village in Uttar Pradesh's Etah district to a farmer, Nanne Lal, and Katori Devi. He completed his early education in the village.

He was reportedly a head constable with the local Intelligence Unit of the UP police but left the job in 1999 after which he changed his name to Narayan Saakar Hari.

The self-styled godman told his devotees that he turned towards spirituality while working at the Intelligence Bureau.