A day after 121 people died in a stampede, Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari aka Bhole Baba claimed he would take legal action against "anti-social elements" responsible for the tragic incident.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, he said, "The stampede was created by some anti-social elements, I have authorised Dr A P Singh, Senior Advocate to take further legal action on this."
Express our deepest condolence, to the families of the deceased and pray to Prabhu / Parmatma for the Speedy recovery of the injured, the statement added.
The organisers of the congregation were widely blamed for the incident. The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against the organisers of the congregation, accusing them of flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced a judicial probe into the Hathras tragedy. Not ruling out the possibility of conspiracy, CM said that the 'sevadars' should have rushed the victims to the hospital rather than leaving them to die. He also accused the ‘sevadars’ of fleeing the scene without considering the lives of the people.
After meeting those injured at the hospital, Adityanath reached the venue of the religious congregation and assessed the situation. He also obtained eyewitness accounts of the events that unfolded.
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"A judicial probe by a retired high court judge will be conducted into the incident," he said. "If this is not an accident, then whose conspiracy is this? All of these will be probed. Retired officials of the police and civic administration will be part of the judicial inquiry and action will be taken against those found responsible," Adityanath added.
CM also added that the government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by the additional director general (ADG) of police, Agra. A preliminary report by the SIT was submitted as well.
On asked why religious preacher Bhole Baba has not been named in the FIR as an accused, Adityanath said, "Prima facie, the case has been filed against those who had applied for permission for the event. Whoever is responsible for this will come under its purview."
"The 'sevadars' kept pushing people leading to the accident. It is sad that the 'sevadars', who do not allow the administration to enter such events, tried to hush up the matter. But when the administration started taking the injured to hospital, most of the 'sevadars' fled,” said Adityanath.