SIT report finds organisers ‘guilty’; says can’t rule out ‘big conspiracy’

People associated with the organising committee have been found guilty of creating chaos, it said, adding that they engaged volunteers without proper police verification.”The organising committee misbehaved with the police. An attempt was made to stop the local police from inspecting the event venue,” it said.The Satsangkarta or preacher (bhole baba) was allowed to meet the crowd without any security arrangements, it said.Given the huge crowd, no barricading or passage arrangements were made and when the accident occurred, the members of the organising committee fled from the spot, it added.The SIT comprised Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone) Anupam Kulshrestha and Aligarh Divisional Commissioner Chaitra V. It was formed immediately after the stampede.The SIT inspected the incident site on July 2, 3 and 5. During the investigation, statements of 125 people, including administrative and police officials, the general public and eyewitnesses, were recorded.Apart from this, copies of news published in connection with the incident, on-site videography, photographs, and video clippings were taken into cognisance.A separate judicial commission headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava, and retired IPS Hemant Rao is also probing the Hathras stampede case.Earlier, government agencies, including police, had blamed the organisers for the mismanagement at the event, noting that the size of the crowd exceeded over 2.50 lakh from the permitted 80,000.So far, nine people, including the key accused, Devprakash Madhukar, have been arrested in connection with the stampede.Madhukar was the main organiser and fundraiser of the July 2 ‘satsang’ of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba at Phulrai village.The godman was not mentioned as accused in the FIR lodged at the local Sikandrarau police station on July 2.



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