Hathras crush: Indian preacher denies blame for deaths, lawyer tells BBC

The preacher who led an overcrowded prayer assembly in India the place greater than 120 folks had been crushed to dying on Tuesday has denied blame, and pledged to co-operate with the police investigation.

A lawyer for the self-styled guru often known as Bhole Baba instructed the BBC the crush occurred “on account of some anti-social components”, and blamed a “legal conspiracy hatched in opposition to” his shopper.

Bhole Baba – whose actual title is Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari – will totally co-operate with the investigation, his lawyer AP Singh mentioned.

Almost all these killed had been ladies and youngsters, who had been attending the satsang – a Hindu non secular competition – in Hathras district.

It has sparked outrage in India and questions on a scarcity of safety measures.

Mr Singh additionally denied stories that safety guards on the competition triggered panic by pushing away individuals who tried to get Bhole Baba’s blessing.

“Completely false allegation,” Mr Singh instructed the BBC. “Safety employees at all times present assist to the followers.”

This is among the worst crushes to occur in India for years.

Stunning pictures 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.

The crush occurred in Pulrai village, the place Bhole Baba was holding a spiritual gathering.

An preliminary police report mentioned that officers had given permission for 80,000 folks to collect, however some 250,000 folks turned as much as the occasion.

The report says the chaos started because the preacher drove off. Eyewitnesses mentioned folks misplaced their footing and began falling on high of one another as tons of rushed in the direction of the preacher as he was leaving the venue.

As folks ran after his car, survivors mentioned numerous these sitting and squatting on the bottom obtained crushed.

One of many first on the scene, native resident Yogesh Yadav, instructed the BBC that tons of of ladies ran after Bhole Baba’s automobile as he was leaving.

“Some crossed the freeway to get a greater glimpse of his automobile. Within the melee, many ladies fell within the drain adjoining to the freeway. Folks began falling on high of one another,” Mr Yadav mentioned.

The police doc added that some folks tried to cross the highway to a patch of mud-soaked fields, however had been forcibly stopped by the organisers and had been crushed.

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 instructed BBC Hindi that the preacher had been a police constable, however was suspended from service after a legal case was lodged in opposition to him.

He was reinstated within the power after a courtroom cleared him however left his job in 2002, the senior officer mentioned.

The preacher has amassed tons of of 1000’s of followers in Hathras and neighbouring districts.

Bhole Baba is thought to have an ashram in Mainpuri, about 100km (62 miles) from Pulrai village.

His lawyer instructed the BBC his shopper is now at his ashram. The preacher has not been named within the preliminary police criticism.