UP govt orders judicial probe into Hathras mishap, to look after education expenses of children of deceased

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday ordered a judicial inquiry into the death of 121 people in a stampede during a prayer meeting organized by self-styled preacher Bhole Baba at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh. A retired High Court judge will head the probe panel, which includes senior administrative and police officers. The panel will look into the causes of accidents and lack of crowd control facilities and will also submit recommendations to prevent recurrence of tragedies. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that strict action will be taken against the culprits and new rules will be introduced to prevent such incidents from recurring.

An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each was announced for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured. The government also took over the education expenses of the children of the deceased. Most of the dead are women and children. Six people are from other states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah called Adityanath and assessed the situation. Meanwhile, the injured are undergoing treatment.

The major mishap in Hathras was caused by people crowding to touch Bhole Baba's feet and the ground he had travelled as he stepped out after the prayer event. The tragedy was fueled by the irresponsibility of the organizers and the lack of police presence.

According to the police FIR, permission was given for an event in which 80,000 people would participate. But it is reported that more than two and a half lakh people participated in the program. Sevadars of Bhole Baba, whose original name is Suraj Pal Singh, stopped the people with big sticks so that they could not touch him. This also caused severe congestion. There were only 40 policemen to provide security in an event attended by lakhs.