Organisers ignored injured, rushed to wipe out evidence, say eyewitnesses

HATHRAS: Several devotees and locals 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.
Eyewitnesses TOI spoke to claimed that as the tragedy struck, "organisers of the satsang began clearing evidence"."They started removing thousands of slippers lying outside the 'pandal' to mislead the investigation and hide the actual turnout number," said Ramakant, 52, alocal

He 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 did not want police to find anything during their investigation."
Om Veer Yadav, a farmer who lives near the venue, said, "Some organising members were behaving like goons. They carried sticks, 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 blocked traffic on both sides of the service lane. We couldn't take out our tractors fearing they would misbehave with us."
Yadav 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. Formal permission for the event 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 pandal was erected at the satsang venue on a 10-acre open ground next to the Delhi-Etah National Highway-91 in Sikandra Rau, Hathras.
Hathras: Several devotees and locals 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.
Eyewitnesses TOI spoke to claimed that as the tragedy struck, "organisers of the satsang began clearing evidence". "They started removing thousands of slippers lying outside the 'pandal' to mislead the investigation and hide the actual turnout number," said Ramakant, 52, alocal
He 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 did not want police to find anything during their investigation."
Om Veer Yadav, a farmer who lives near the venue, said, "Some organising members were behaving like goons. They carried sticks, 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 blocked traffic on both sides of the service lane. We couldn't take out our tractors fearing they would misbehave with us."
Yadav 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. Formal permission for the event 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 pandal was erected at the satsang venue on a 10-acre open ground next to the Delhi-Etah National Highway-91 in Sikandra Rau, Hathras.