As the row continues over the recent stampede in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras that killed 123 people during a religious congregation, the local self-styled godman 'Bhole Baba', whose original name is Suraj Pal Singh, sharing a video message, said he was depressed over the incident and asked the affected families to have faith in the judiciary.
In a video statement, Bhole Baba said, "I am deeply saddened after the incident. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared. Through my lawyer, AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives."
Hathras stampede: Key developments
Dev Prakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede, was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh Police after he surrendered in Delhi on Friday night. Madhukar will on Saturday be produced before a local court.
Prior to Madhukar's arrest, police on Thursday arrested six 'sevadars' from the satsang's organising committee, including two women volunteers. The six people arrested on Thursday by Sikandra Rau police in Hathras are Ram Ladete (50) from Mainpuri, Upendra Singh Yadav (62) from Firozabad, Megh Singh (61) from Hathras, Manju Yadav (30) from Hathras, Mukesh Kumar (38) from Hathras, and Manju Devi (40) from Hathras.
As per reports, today the spiritual leader will be produced before a local court.
On July 3, the state government formed a three-member judicial commission, headed by a retired high court judge, to probe the Hathras tragedy and to look into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede.
The Uttar Pradesh government's Special Investigation Team probing the Hathras stampede has recorded statements of 90 people so far, SIT chief Anupam Kulshrestha told news agency PTI.
