Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday met the family members of the victims of the Hathras stampede that claimed the lives of 121 people and left over a dozen injured. Gandhi met with the relatives of deceased, and inquired about the incident and the help they had received so far.
"He has assured us that he would take up our problems at the right forum and also help us in every possible way," said Arvind, whose mother was killed in the stampede on July 2.
"We want action against the organisers. Baba's name (self-styled godman Suraj Pal who also goes by the names of Narayan Sakar Hari and 'Bhole Baba' at whose satsang the stampede took place) should be there in the FIR too. When there was a stampede happening in front of Baba, he should have asked people to stop. If Baba had stopped it, the public would have stopped. Hundreds of lives could have been saved. He left during the accident. He did not even look back," an emotional Arvind further said.
Talking about the mismanagement by organisers, he said that the major brunt of the fault lies with the preacher and the satsang organising commitee.
"Instead of 80,000 people as permitted, there were 3.5 lakh people gathered for satsang. To manage the crowd, there were just 20-25 policemen. There should have been at least 200-250 policemen. Also, there was only one main road there, everyone got crushed in the stampede. If more roads had been open, this accident would not have happened," he added.
Arvind's brother Bijendra told ABP that their mother had been going to Baba's satsang for the last nine years.
"This time she died in a stampede. Some people from the village had gone with our mother. An auto had gone from our place. Initially, we were told that their auto had met with an accident. Later, when my brother reached there, we came to know what had happened," he said.
Bijendra also highlighted the mismanagement by authorities after the tragedy struck.
"After stampede, we searched for our mother everywhere but could not find her. Later she was found lying on a slab of ice in a very bad condition. There should have been more policemen," he lamented.
The Congress leader also mat Kajal, who lost her mother and brother in the stampeded.
An inconsolable Kajal told ABP that Rahul Gandhi has promised that he will help her and other victims.
"Rahul Gandhi said he will help us. Action should be taken against the organizers," she said.
Later in the day, Gandhi is scheduled to meet the families of Munni Devi and Asha Devi and Omvati, who were killed in the stampeded. He is also set to visit Maya Devi, who was injured in the tragedy, at hospital.
Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered in the incident naming organizers of the event but the accused have not yet been arrested. The police arrested six persons, known as sewadars, who were supporters of the preachers and were managing the event.
Police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri on Thursday for Suraj Pal.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mainpuri Sunil Kumar said on Wednesday that 'Bhole Baba' was not found inside his ashram.
Superintendent of Hathras City, Rahul Mithas also said that they did not find the preacher in the ashram.
On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the site of the tragedy and ordered a judicial probe into the incident.
A three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava has been constituted to ensure comprehensiveness of the subject matter and transparency in the inquiry.
The Judicial Commission will investigate the stampede incident over the next two months and submit its report to the state government.
As per the prima facie report, the stampede took place when devotees rushed to seek blessings and collect soil from around the preacher's feet, but were stopped from doing so by his security personnel. They then started pushing one another due to which several people fell triggering chaos at the site.