Hathras satsang mishap: Footage shows godman's convoy leaving village after stampede

Hathras stampede: Two days after the Hathras satsang mishap, a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage has surfaced, revealing that self-styled preacher Baba Narayan Hari, also known as Saakar Vishwa Hari 'Bhole Baba', left the village after the tragedy. About 121 individuals, comprising both women and children, lost their lives as a stampede occurred during the 'satsang' event hosted by a self-proclaimed spiritual leader known as Bhole Baba, also known as Narayan Saakar Hari, in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday afternoon.

The video by PTI shows a group of volunteers, or 'Sevak', positioned along the roadside as Bhole Baba's procession moves through.

An eyewitness quoted by news reports said the religious gathering ended around 2pm. “He [the Baba] entered and exited the site from a designated route, bypassing the gathering of women, men, and children. There were vehicles all around and a portion of the highway was almost jammed with devotees and vehicles,” the eyewitness said.

“A huge crowd rushed towards the highway and many of them could not climb up and slipped… as devotees fell, others rushing towards the highway did not bother and crushed them under their feet while trying to follow the Baba’s car. This led to the stampede and those who fell could not get up… they died and many of these were women.”

Earlier in the day, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested six satsang organisers in connection with the Hathras stampede that killed 121 people.

Aligarh IG Shalabh Mathur said, “Six people including four men and two women have been arrested in the incident. They all are members of the organising committee and worked as ‘Sevadars’.” He said that a non-bailable warrant would be issued against chief sevadar Devprakash Madhukar.

The police have also announced a Rs 1 lakh bounty on the arrest of the main accused, identified as Prakash Madhukar.

Another eyewitness told India Today TV the police and the main organiser of Hathras satsang were alerted about the possible mismanagement a day prior to the tragedy.

Pappy Yadav, the eyewitness, was a member of the Manav Mangal Milan Sadbhavna Samagam Committee and was appointed to oversee road traffic management. He stated that he had informed Dev Prakash Madhukar, the main organiser, and the local police about the lack of proper parking facilities leading to mismanagement, a day prior to the incident.

Yadav mentioned that a similar incident took place in Aligarh during the spiritual gathering led by Narayan Sakar Hari. During the Aligarh incident, a woman accidentally fell into a pit; fortunately, the organizers swiftly came to her aid, preventing a potential tragedy.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath ordered a judicial probe, headed by retired High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava and two ex-IAS officers, into the incident. An FIR was filed against the organizers, with ongoing investigations. 'Bhole Baba' has not been implicated. The probe continues under their supervision.