By Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC Information, Hathras • Toby Luckhurst, BBC Information, London
![Reuters People mourn the deaths of relatives at a religious event in India, July 2024](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8c4c/live/d28eedc0-39de-11ef-aef7-69a8c09415e5.png.webp)
The preacher who led an overcrowded gathering in India the place greater than 120 individuals had been crushed to loss of life on Tuesday has denied blame, and pledged to co-operate with the police investigation.
A lawyer for the self-styled guru generally known as Bhole Baba informed the BBC the crush occurred “on account of some anti-social components”, and blamed a “legal conspiracy hatched towards” his shopper.
On Thursday, police stated that they had arrested six individuals who had been a part of a committee that organised the occasion.
Almost all these killed had been ladies and kids, who had been attending the satsang – a Hindu non secular pageant – in Hathras district.
The case has sparked outrage in India and questions on an absence of safety measures.
Bhole Baba – whose actual identify is Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari – will absolutely co-operate with the investigation, his lawyer AP Singh stated.
Mr Singh additionally denied reviews that safety guards on the pageant triggered panic by pushing away individuals who tried to get Bhole Baba’s blessing.
“Completely false allegation,” Mr Singh informed the BBC. “Safety employees at all times present assist to the followers.”
This is without doubt one of the worst crushes to occur in India for years.
Surprising photos from the aftermath of the catastrophe have circulated on-line, of individuals driving the wounded to hospital in pick-up vehicles, tuk tuks and even on motorbikes.
What occurred?
The crush came about in Pulrai village, the place Bhole Baba was holding a non secular gathering.
An preliminary police report stated that officers had given permission for 80,000 individuals to collect, however some 250,000 individuals turned as much as the occasion.
The report says the chaos started because the preacher drove off. Eyewitnesses stated individuals misplaced their footing and began falling on prime of one another as a whole bunch rushed in direction of the preacher as he was leaving the venue.
As individuals ran after his automobile, survivors stated quite a few these sitting and squatting on the bottom acquired crushed.
One of many first on the scene, native resident Yogesh Yadav, informed the BBC that a whole bunch of girls ran after Bhole Baba’s automotive as he was leaving.
“Some crossed the freeway to get a greater glimpse of his automotive. Within the melee, many ladies fell within the drain adjoining to the freeway. Folks began falling on prime of one another,” Mr Yadav stated.
The police doc added that some individuals tried to cross the highway to a patch of mud-soaked fields, however had been forcibly stopped by the organisers and had been crushed.
![Getty Images A billboard with Bhole Baba's face](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/1d45/live/78598e40-39df-11ef-aef7-69a8c09415e5.jpg.webp)
Bhole Baba was initially named Suraj Pal, however he reportedly re-christened himself as Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari.
One senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh informed BBC Hindi that the preacher had been a police constable, however was suspended from service after a legal case was lodged towards him.
He was reinstated within the pressure after a court docket cleared him however left his job in 2002, the senior officer stated.
The preacher has amassed a whole bunch of hundreds of followers in Hathras and neighbouring districts.
Bhole Baba is understood to have an ashram in Mainpuri, about 100km (62 miles) from Pulrai village.
His lawyer informed the BBC his shopper is now at his ashram. The preacher has not been named within the preliminary police criticism.