Rahul Gandhi meets Hathras stampede victims’ families

Rahul Gandhi met the families, inquired about the incident and the aid they received, and assured them he would address their issues and provide support.

Aligarh/Hathras: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi reached Pilakhna village in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh on Friday and met the families of the victims of the Hathras stampede that claimed the lives of 121 people and left over a dozen injured.

Rahul Gandhi met the families and inquired about the incident and the help they had received. He assured them that he would take up their problems at the right forum and also help them in every possible way.

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The Congress leader later visited Hathras where he met the injured and those who had lost their kin in the stampede.

The stampede took place on Tuesday evening at a Satsang of self-styled godman Suraj Pal who also goes by the names of Narayan Sakar Hari and ‘Bhole Baba’.

An FIR has been registered in the incident naming organizers of the event but the accused have not yet been arrested. The police arrested six persons, known as sewadars, who were supporters of the preachers and were managing the event.

Police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri on Thursday for Suraj Pal.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mainpuri Sunil Kumar said on Wednesday that ‘Bhole Baba’ was not found inside his ashram.

Superintendent of Hathras City, Rahul Mithas also said that they did not find the preacher in the ashram.

On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the site of the tragedy and ordered a judicial probe into the incident.

A three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava has been constituted to ensure comprehensiveness of the subject matter and transparency in the inquiry.

The Judicial Commission will investigate the stampede incident over the next two months and submit its report to the state government.

As per the prima facie report, the stampede took place when devotees rushed to seek blessings and collect soil from around the preacher’s feet, but were stopped from doing so by his security personnel. They then started pushing one another due to which several people fell triggering chaos at the site.