Hathras Stampede: 'Bhole Baba' Not Named In FIR; 'Satsang' Attended By 2.5 Lakh People

Bhole Baba, aka Narayan Saakar Hari, the religious preacher who led the religious congregation at Uttar Pradesh's Hathras where a stampede killed more than 120 people on Tuesday, is likely to be arrested.

The preacher had not been named in the FIR registered at Sikandra Rau police station of Hathras district, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).

According to NDTV, at least 121 people, including over 100 women and seven children, were killed and 28 others injured in the stampede. A compensation of Rs 2 lakh each has been issued to the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured, with President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their condolences to the victims' families.

The stampede occurred because the place was too small to accommodate the crowd of 2.5 lakh followers who had gathered there on Tuesday afternoon. As per reports, the expected number of people was about 80000.

The stampede broke out when the crowd began to leave after the 'satsang', as Bhole Baba's devotees rushed to collect the dust from his car's tyre trail. Due to this heavy rush, those who were lying down to gather the mud started getting trampled.

"Due to the uncontrollable crowd leaving the venue, devotees sitting on the ground were crushed. On the other side of the road, the crowd running in the water and mud-filled fields was forcibly stopped by the organising committee with sticks, due to which the pressure of the crowd kept increasing and women, children, and men kept getting crushed," the FIR said.

"The police and administrative officials present on the spot made every possible effort and sent the injured people to the hospital with the available resources. But no cooperation was given by the organisers," the FIR added.

The self-styled godman is believed to be on the run. Police have searched all premises linked to him in Uttar Pradesh. However, they failed to find him.

"We did not find Baba inside the campus. He is not here," Deputy Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar told ANI.

The Uttar Pradesh government has also launched two helpline numbers -- 05722227041 and 05722227042 -- after the Hathras stampede incident.