‘Organisers ignored injured devotees, hid evidence before cops arrived’

HATHRAS: Several devotees and locals who were present at self-styled ‘godman’ Bhole Baba’s ‘satsang’ which resulted in a massive stampede on Tuesday claimed that the organisers ignored injured devotees and instead rushed to hide evidence before police arrived.
Ramakant, a local resident, added, “In fact, the injured were begging for arrangement of vehicles for hospitals, but they (the organisers) were busy dismantling the tent structure and wiping off the dais and such thing which could later land them in trouble.I attended the satsang, too.” Another eyewitness said, “They actually didn’t want police to find anything during their probe.”
Om Veer Yadav, a farmer who lives near the venue, said, “Some organising members were behaving like goons. They carried sticks in their hands, hitting people at will. They had parked their buses and cars outside our houses and on the main road in preparation for the event two weeks ago. They had also blocked traffic on the service lane from both sides. We couldn’t take out our tractors fearing they would misbehave with us.”
He said that loudspeakers and other paraphernalia were also quickly bundled and taken away. “But such a big event will leave its mark, however hard one tries to pretend that it never took place.”
Moreover, organisers of the satsang committee had purportedly taken complete responsibility to hold the event, “refusing support from police or administration”, claimed a local resident. Formal permission was taken only from the SDM, he added.
Dressed in pink uniforms, over 10,000 men -- all devotees -- were deployed to manage the traffic, crowd and other arrangements. There were hardly any professionals or agencies present for crowd management, said a devotee.
A massive pandal was erected on a 10-acre open ground next to the Delhi-Etah national highway-91 in Sikandra Rau, Hathras. While the administration said “permission was taken for 80,000 people”, according to locals “a crowd of nearly 3 lakh thronged the satsang which was one of the main reasons for the stampede”.