Hathras stampede: 2 more arrested, police to probe ‘political’ link to satsang

The two accused — Ramprakash Shakya and Sanju Yadav — were arrested from Kailora intersection and Gopalpur Kachori in Hathras on Saturday. A total of nine people have been arrested in the case since the stampede on July 2.

The main accused, Madhukar, was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Hathras on Saturday and sent to 14-day judicial custody.

According to Hathras police, during interrogation, Madhukar revealed that he and other satsang organisers were contacted by some political parties some time ago. An in-depth investigation is being conducted regarding the collection of funds during satsangs to see if such programmes are funded by any political party, said the police.

Hathras SP Nipun Aggarwal said Madhukar was arrested by the Special Operations Group from Delhi late Friday evening. He said Madhukar was associated with the ‘godman’, Suraj Pal alias Bholey Baba alias Narayan Sakaar Hari, for a long time. “Madhukar was the main organiser of the satsang programme in Phulrai village on July 2 and the permission for this programme was taken by him. Thus, two roles of Madhukar have come to light — the main organiser and fundraiser,” said the officer.

“From the questioning done so far, it seems some political party is associated with them (Suraj Pal) for its political and personal interests. All the bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, money trail etc linked to the accused, Devprakash Madhukar, are being investigated; cooperation will also be sought from other agencies as per requirement,” said Aggarwal.

The officer did not clearly state if any action will be taken against Suraj Pal in connection with the stampede.

According to the Hathras Police, during interrogation it also came to light that Suraj Pal’s car was driven amid the crowd by his sewadars despite being aware of the fact that there would be a rush for collecting the soil with tyre marks and the ‘godman’s’ footprints .

Who is Madhukar?

Police said during interrogation, Madhukar informed them that he had been working on a contract as junior engineer in MGNREGA in UP’s Etah district since 2010. He had been associated with ‘godman Bholey Baba’ for years and worked as an organiser and fundraiser of satsang and other programmes.

Police said any kind of interference from the administration at the Phulrai satsang venue was prevented by the sewadars. “People were prevented from recording videos and taking photographs at the venue. Traffic movement was often affected in violation of the conditions mentioned in the permission letter issued by the administration. It has also become clear from the interrogation (of Madhukar) that no effort was made by them (sewadars) to control the crowd when the stampede started,” said an official.