Two days after the fateful stampede which claimed the lives of over 121 people during a religious congregation in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, there is still no sight of preacher Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari.
Sunil Kumar, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mainpuri, who has deployed a team of police at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district, told reporters on Wednesday night that Bhole Baba is still not inside the Ashram. "Baba has not been found inside the ashram. There are 40-50 sevadars inside the ashram. Bhole Baba is not inside, neither he was yesterday nor he is today," Kumar.
Police personnel have been deployed on the Ashram premises to prevent stone pelting incidents. "We are present here so that security can be ensured, no one pelts stones at the ashram. There will be a thorough investigation on the matter," the DSP added.
This comes as A P Singh, the lawyer representing Bhole Baba, claimed Wednesday that "anti-social elements" were behind the stampede at the preacher's 'satsang'.
Though primary investigation hints that the stampede occurred when a large number of his followers, mostly women, rushed towards Baba when he was leaving to get a closer glimpse of the preacher and collect the soil he walked on. However, Baba's lawyer rubbished the allegations of 'charan raj'. "Narayan Saakar Hari never lets followers touch his feet. The mention of the 'charan raj' is also false. There is no video or picture of such an act," he said.
"Some anti-social elements hatched a conspiracy. When Narayan Saakar Hari left the venue, his vehicles left, our volunteers and followers failed to understand what was happening due to the conspiracy. This was done as per a plan and should be investigated," lawyer A P Singh told PTI.
Singh said Bhole Baba is also ready to cooperate with the state administration and the police probing Tuesday's stampede and has demanded an investigation into the entire matter.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired High Court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy. The panel will also look into the possibility that a conspiracy was behind the stampede that killed 121 people at a religious gathering.
Retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastav leads the inquiry commission, which will submit its report in two months. Retired IAS officers Hemant Rao and Bhavesh Kumar are the other members, the state government said in Lucknow.
The police have now filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the organisers of the satsang' near Phulhari village, accusing them of cramming 2.5 lakh people into the venue when they had obtained permission for only 80,000.