Hathras | July 3: In a devastating incident, at least 116 people lost their lives and around 18 people were injured, after a stampede occurred at an event that involved the teachings of a religious preacher “Bhole Baba” in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.
Following the tragic incident, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ensured the thorough investigation of the case to check whether the event was an “accident” or a “conspiracy” and he asserted to give appropriate punishment to the accused.
CM Yogi also asserted that the state government is committed towards uncovering the truth behind incident. He further urged leaders to express condolences with the families of bereaved rather than politicizing the issue.
In the meanwhile, Aligarh Commissioner Chaitra V stated that around 116 people are confirmed dead while 18 are injured whose treatment is underway in the Aligarh district. She also mentioned that an investigation has been initiated in the case.
Hathras district comes under the Aligarh division.
The Bhole Baba who was preacher of the religious event is abscond from the spot and an FIR has been registered against the 22 organizers of the event.
The event was organized by “Manav Mangal Milan Samagam” organization which consisted local people of the city. Around 50,000 people were present in this incident.
From the primary reports, the reason stated behind the incident is that a throng of crowd was heading towards the Baba to touch his feet, just after he was coming down from the stage and in the row, the “sevadars” of Baba stopped them, causing an accident, which claimed approximately 116 lives.
When the preacher of the Satsang was coming down from the stage, suddenly a crowd of devotees started going towards him to touch him and when the ‘sevadars’ stopped them, the accident happened at the spot.
Meanwhile, on the incident, the President of India, Draupadi Murmu expressed her condolences on the loss of lives. Taking it to a social media post on X, she wrote in Hindi, “The news of the death of many devotees including women and children in the accident in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh is heart-rending. I express my deepest condolences to those who lost their family members and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured..”
