Hathras Stampede Case: Will ‘Bhole Baba’ also be questioned? Judicial Inquiry Commission gave this answer

Self-proclaimed Bhole Baba. (File photo.)

Uttar Pradesh news: The judicial commission of the Uttar Pradesh government will talk to every person who will be required to be talked to for the investigation of the stampede in Hathras on July 2. A member of the inquiry commission said this on Sunday when he was asked whether the self-proclaimed Bhole Baba will be questioned.

What will the commission do to record the statement?

Another member and chairman of the commission, retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava told reporters in Hathras that the judicial commission will issue a public notice asking local people and eyewitnesses of the incident to share any evidence related to the stampede and record their statements. The three-member team constituted under the chairmanship of Srivastava also includes former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Hemant Rao and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Bhavesh Kumar.

Will the commission interrogate Bhole Baba?

When asked if the judicial commission will also question the self-proclaimed Baba, Bhavesh Kumar said, “The commission will talk to every person who is necessary to talk to for the investigation of the Hathras stampede case.” The three-member judicial commission on Sunday talked to local people as well as officials and eyewitnesses of the stampede. 121 people died in this incident.

The commission inspected the scene of the incident

The team reached Hathras on Saturday and inspected the stampede site near Phulrai village on National Highway 91. On Sunday morning, the judicial commission team continued its investigation by reaching the PWD guest house on Aligarh Road in the district. After inspecting the spot, Srivastava told reporters on Saturday, “We have been ordered to submit the investigation report within two months.” Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar and Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal were also with the team.

Nine people have been arrested in the case

So far, nine people, including the main accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. Hathras police on Saturday said it was also investigating the alleged funding of the satsang by a political party and warned of ‘strict action’ against it. According to officials, Madhukar was the main organiser of the ‘satsang’ of self-styled Baba Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias ‘Bhole Baba’ on July 2 and collected donations for it. More than 2.50 lakh people gathered in this satsang while only 80 thousand people were allowed to gather.

The self-styled godman’s name is not mentioned in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandrarao police station in connection with the incident that took place on July 2. Apart from this, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh government is also investigating the incident. Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone) Anupam Kulshreshtha is leading the SIT. Kulshreshtha had said on Friday that he has not ruled out the conspiracy angle in the stampede and the evidence collected so far points to the culpability of the satsang organisers.