Hathras stampede: Defence maintains conspiracy angle, next court hearing on June 30

Hathras (UP), Jun 13 (PTI) A Hathras court on Friday continued hearing on charges into last year's stampede at a religious congregation that claimed 121 lives and set June 30 as the next date of hearing.

The stampede occurred on July 2, 2024, in Sikandrarao tehsil here during a spiritual event of preacher Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba. Most of the people who died in the incident were women and children.

Some of the key organisers of the event have been named as accused in the case. The preacher, however, is not mentioned as an accused in the case.

There are 11 accused, out of which 10 appeared in the district court on Friday, while one could not appear due to ill health, their lawyer said.

Advocate A P Singh, who is representing all the accused and is also the legal counsel of Surajpal, maintained the conspiracy angle in the matter, alleging it was a "pre-planned" stampede.

"The entire chargesheet, including the witnesses listed by police, appears to be cyclostyled," he claimed.

He further alleged that the police prepared the chargesheet in haste and termed it a "bundle of lies." Raising questions on the role of law enforcement, Singh asked, "Why did the 73 police personnel present at the scene remain silent? Were they influenced by the spiritual presence and words of Narayan Sakar Hari, or were they acting out of faith and reverence?" He claimed that if these officers had acted in time, the alleged use of "poisonous spray by conspirators" could have been prevented, and lives could have been saved.

Addressing recurring claims around "Charan Raj" (dust of the guru's feet), Singh said that Narayan Sakar Hari arrives and departs in a car and walks on carpets, making such beliefs irrelevant.

"He (the preacher) never claimed that collecting dust from his feet would bring any benefit or transformation in people's lives," Singh added. AMJ AMJ