6 sevadars arrested over Hathras stampede that killed 121 people

6 sevadars arrested over Hathras stampede that killed 121 people
Hathras: The Uttar Pradesh police said on Thursday that they have arrested six ‘sevadars’, including two women, in connection with the Hathras stampede that killed 121 people.

The only accused named in the FIR is at large while preacher Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba will be questioned if required during investigation, a senior officer said.

“All six persons who have been arrested worked as sevadars (volunteers) at the ‘satsang’,” Inspector General of Police (Aligarh Range) Shalabh Mathur told reporters here.

“A reward of Rs 1 lakh will be announced soon and non-bailable warrant (NBW) will also be issued against key accused Devprakash Madhukar,” Mathura said.

The preacher Surajpal was not mentioned as accused in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandra Rau police station on Tuesday after the stampede at Phulrai village that left 121 people dead in its wake.

Meanwhile, the bodies of all victims have been identified and handed over to their families, said District Magistrate Ashish Kumar. A total of 121 people, mostly women, died and 31 were injured in the stampede at the preacher Baba Bhole’s satsang in Hathras on Tuesday.

After the stampede, 21 bodies were taken to Agra, 28 to Etah, 34 were in Hathras and 38 in Aligarh, according to officials. “All the bodies have been identified and handed over (to respective families),” Kumar told PTI here on Thursday. He said of the three bodies that were unidentified till Wednesday, two were recognised late in the night and one through video call on Thursday morning.

“The last body was identified by the family over a video call. They are on their way to Aligarh hospital (to get the body),” the district magistrate added. Kumar, a 2015-batch IAS officer who joined as Hathras DM barely a week before the stampede, said there is no report of any missing person now.

“We had deployed district administration personnel to count the number of people who had gone to the event (‘satsang’) and returned,” he said. The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a monetary relief of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for those injured,” the officer said.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy, also looking into the possibility that a “conspiracy” was behind the stampede. The panel will submit its report in two months.