Hathras: Expressing sorrow over the Hathras incident, he said, “The incident on July 2 has left us deeply depressed.
We are suffering from depression, but who can escape fate? Everyone who arrives must one day depart, sooner or later.” He acknowledged eyewitness accounts of a poisonous spray and suggested a conspiracy behind the stampede.
He emphasized that certain individuals are trying to discredit the spiritual practices of his organization. He expressed complete trust in the Special Investigation Team (SIT), the judicial commission, and the followers of the Human Welfare Harmony Association to reveal the truth and identify the conspirators of the tragic event.
“We stand with the families of all those who perished in the incident,” the godfather stated. The stampede at Bhole Baba’s ‘Satsang’ claimed 123 lives in the Sikandararu area of Hathras on July 2. The Uttar Pradesh government has formed both an SIT and a judicial commission to investigate the incident.
Notably, the FIR at Sikandrarau police station did not name the godman as an accused. However, the SIT’s report to the state government on July 9 cited overcrowding as the primary cause of the stampede, without dismissing the possibility of a conspiracy.
The SIT found the event organizers at fault for not managing the crowd adequately, a view supported by official sources who noted that both the organizers and the administration were to blame. Bhole Baba’s lawyer previously alleged that the stampede was caused by a “poisonous substance” sprayed by unknown individuals.
A judicial commission, led by retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava and retired IPS officer Hemant Rao, is also probing the incident.
