The Uttar Pradesh Police have taken into custody Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede which claimed 121 lives after he surrendered in Delhi, his lawyer claimed.
Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' of the 'satsang' where the stampede took place, is the only accused named in the FIR lodged in Hathras in connection with the incident.
In a video message, his lawyer A.P. Singh claimed that his client had surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment.
"Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here," Singh said.
"We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe," he added.
He requested the police to take into consideration his health condition during questioning or recording his statement and ensure that nothing wrong happens to him.
The lawyer said his client will provide information about the "anti-social elements" at the event.
#WATCH | Hathras stampede incident: Advocate AP Singh says, "Dev Prakash Madhukar who was named in the FIR in the Hathras case, was said to be the main organiser has surrendered in front of SIT, STF and Police. It was my promise that we will not use any anticipatory bail, will… pic.twitter.com/wy8pgUSNJe
— ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2024
Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukar's arrest.
On July 3, the Supreme Court lawyer, had claimed that he also represents Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman at whose 'satsang' the stampede occurred, and that some "anti-social elements" were behind the tragedy.
Surajpal was ready to cooperate with the state administration and police and had sought an investigation into the entire matter, Singh had said.
—With agency inputs
