Hathras stampede: Bhole Baba’s 4 calls before switching off phone under scanner
According to a senior police officer, Pal had spoken to the event organisers four times before his mobile phone went off on the same day.
Suraj Pal, known to his followers as “Bhole Baba” or Narayan Hari Sakar, spoke to the organisers of the ‘satsang’ he hosted in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh earlier this week four times, after the haphazardly organised event resulted in a deadly stampede and left 121 people dead, police officers familiar with the probe said on Friday, without providing details on the possible whereabouts of the self-styled godman who has been missing ever since.
According to a senior police officer, Pal had spoken to the event organisers, who have been booked in connection with the tragedy on July 2, four times before his mobile phone went off on the same day.
“During the course of the probe, it was learnt that Baba had spoken to some of the event organisers four times on July 2, after the stampede at 1.55 pm, before his mobile phone was switched off at 4.35 pm near his Mainpuri farmhouse,” the officer said, seeking anonymity.
“Six people arrested in the case are being questioned on various aspects of organising the event that saw the participation of 250,000 people as against the permitted limit of 80,000,” the officer added.
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People familiar with the details pertaining to the call records said Pal first spoke to ‘mukhya sevadar’ (head volunteer) Devprakash Madhukar, who is the key accused in the case and reportedly surrendered later in Delhi on Friday. Madhukar called Pal at 2:48 pm and the two spoke for 2.17 minutes, the people said on condition of anonymity.
The remaining three calls were made between 3pm and 4.35pm.
The second call, the people said, was made by Pal to one Mahesh Chandra and lasted for 3.01 minutes. Then, the self-styled godman spoke to another person, Sanju, for 40 seconds. The last call was made to one Ranjana and lasted for 11 minutes 33 seconds.
Mahesh Chandra and Sanju Yadav were among the organisers of the ‘satsang’, according to a list on a banner at the stampede site.
At least 121 people, most of them women and children, were killed in the stampede on Tuesday afternoon as they attempted to leave the religious gathering hosted by “Bhole Baba”, a former cop, who remains at large. The event was held at a partially covered field in Phulari Mughal Garhi, a village roughly 200 km from Delhi, and far from any major centre with medical facilities to handle a mass casualty event.
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The stampede is the deadliest in India since 2008, when 162 people died in a similar incident in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh.
While the state police filed a first information report (FIR) against the organisers of the event, it did not name Pal in the case. Six ‘sevadars’ were arrested on Thursday.
Advocate AP Singh, authorised by Pal to represent him and take legal action in the incident, said the self-styled godman will be available for probe if required. He also claimed that Madhukar, who was undergoing treatment in a hospital due to health issues, surrendered in Delhi late on Friday. While there was no official statement, police officers in Delhi, who did not wish to be identified, also said Madhukar had surrendered.
Officials earlier said that a process was initiated to remove Madhukar as supervisor in MGNREGA work across 20 panchayats. Police earlier also said a reward of ₹1 lakh would be announced for information on Madhukar and a non-bailable warrant (NBW) would be issued against him.
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Police said Pal will be summoned for interrogation if required. While Bhogaon (in Mainpuri) deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Sunil Kumar Singh said the self-styled godman is not at his farmhouse-cum-ashram at Bicchawan in Mainpuri district, about 150 km east of Hathras, some of his followers, who did not wish to be identified, told this reporter that he was inside the premises.
A team of police on Thursday entered the ashram to “check security arrangements”. Another team has been stationed around the premises. Local residents claimed that police entered the ashram around 1am on Friday and left an hour later with two vehicles.
Asked about the probability of interrogating Pal, Aligarh range inspector general of police (IGP) Shalabh Mathur said: “If there is something about him, it will be duly informed. The investigation will be evidence-based. We have called several people for questioning.”
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Additional director general (Agra zone) Anupam Kulshreshtha said: “We are not going to reveal details about Baba’s last traceable location.”
Meanwhile, a committee led by Kulshreshtha and Aligarh commissioner Chaitra V has questioned around 90-100 police officers and administration officials so far and is likely to finalise its report on the incident soon.
The committee was set up on the directions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Adityanath has also ordered a separate judicial inquiry headed by a retired high court judge.
The statements of the police officers and administration officials were recorded at Hathras police lines, Mathur said. “It is for the government to decide on action against officials… As far as the investigation is concerned, it has been taken up by circle officer (Hathras city), who is being assisted by two to three officers. The special operation group (SOG) at Hathras is also being assisted by the zonal level SOG teams and these teams are headed by superintendent of police (Hathras),” he added.