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Hathras stampede: Probe team will question ‘anyone required’, says panel member
Ex-IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar asserted that the three-member judicial commission will speak to ‘anyone required’ for its inquiry.
The judicial commission set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the July 2 Hathras stampede, will question ‘anyone required’ for the inquiry, retired police officer Bhavesh Kumar, who is on the three-member panel, said on Saturday.
“We will speak to anyone required,” Kumar replied when asked if the commission will question self-styled godman ‘Bhole Baba’ as well. The stampede, which occurred at a ‘satsang’ of Surajpal alias Narayan Sankar Hari alias ‘Bhole Baba,’ claimed 121 lives, most of them women.
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Meanwhile, panel chairperson Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava, a former Allahabad high court judge, said that locals will be asked to join the investigation.
“We will issue a public notice soon asking local people and witnesses to share any evidence related to the stampede. We will also record their statements,” Shrivatsava stated.
Ex-bureaucrat Harish Rao is the third member of the group.
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The team reached Hathras on Saturday and visited the incident site near the Phulrai village along National Highway 91.
“We have been mandated to submit our report within two months,” Shrivastava, the commission chairperson, told reporters after reviewing the site. The group was accompanied by Ashish Kumar, District Magistrate (DM), Hathras, and Nipun Agarwal, the Superintendent of Police (SP).
On Sunday morning, the members camped at the Public Works Department (PWD) guest house and continued their inquiry.
So far, nine people, including key accused Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede. Madhukar was the fundraiser and main organiser of the event, which was attended by more than 2.5 lakh people, nearly three times the permitted limit of 80,000.
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However, the ‘godman’ himself has not been named in the First Investigation Report (FIR), which was lodged at the local Sikandra Rao police station on July 2 itself.
(With PTI inputs)
