In a statement, Hari expressed his condolences over the incident and claimed that the chaos erupted a long time after he had already left the venue.
Hathras Stampede (ANI photo)
Self-styled godman Narayan Sakar Hari, also known as Bhole Baba, has blamed “anti-social elements” for the deadly stampede during his ‘satsang’ (religious gathering) on July 2 at a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras which killed 121 people and injured many.
In a statement, Hari expressed his condolences over the incident and claimed that the chaos erupted a long time after he had already left the venue.
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“I/we express our deep condolence to the families of the deceased and pray to prabhu/parmatma (God) for the speedy recovery of the injured,” read the statement.
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He further said that he had authorised Supreme Court lawyer A.P. Singh to take “further legal action in regard of stampede created by some anti-social elements after Samagam”.
The stampede killed 121 people, most of them women, as devotees suffocated to death and bodies piled atop each other.
A sub-divisional magistrate (SDM)-led preliminary probe has stated that the stampede was caused after devotees were pushed by the godman’s security and a “slippery slope”.
“A crowd of more than 2 lakh people was present in the satsang pandal. Shri Narayan Sakar Hari (Bhole Baba) reached the satsang pandal at about 12.30 p.m. and the program went on for 1 hour,” the preliminary report said.
“After this, at about 1.40 p.m., Shri Narayan Sakar Hari (Bhole Baba) came out of the pandal to go towards Etah on National Highway-91,” the report said, adding that when the godman was leaving the venue, his followers started running towards him for a ‘darshan’ and collect soil from around his feet.
“Satsangi women/men/children etc. started applying the dust of Baba’s feet on their foreheads (while trying) to get his darshan, touch his feet and take his blessings,” reads the report.
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