Hathras stampede: Uttar Pradesh police fail to find ‘baba’ who held Hathras satsang that claimed lives of 116

After a stampede at a religious event in Uttar Pradesh‘s Hathras claimed the lives of 116 people on Tuesday, local police began searching for ‘Bhole Baba,’ the man at the center of the ‘satsang.’

Late on Tuesday, Deputy Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar informed media that the ‘baba’ was not found inside the campus.

“We did not find Baba ji inside the campus…He is not here…” Kumar told ANI.

The congregation that was responsible for the deaths in Hathras was around Baba Narayan Hari alias Saakar Vishwa Hari ‘Bhole Baba’, a former policeman who turned into a religious preacher and gained a following, especially in western Uttar Pradesh.

Known as Surajpal before he took up the ‘baba’ moniker, the preacher is a native of Bahadur Nagar in Kasganj district.

Also read: Who is ‘Bhole Baba,’ the man at the center of the satsang that killed 116?According to Sikandra Rao sub divisional magistrate Ravendra Kumar, the tragedy occurred when devotees tried to get a glimpse of Bhole Baba as the event ended. They also wanted to collect some soil from around the Baba’s feet.Following the tragedy, as many as 23 bodies were taken to Aligarh, with three injured people receiving treatment, with one in critical state, according to Aligarh DM Vishak G Iyer.

“A total of 23 bodies have been brought to Aligarh…Three injured people from the Hathras incident are getting treatment at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College. Out of them, two are in stable condition whereas one is in critical condition. We have talked to the hospital administration and the procedure to take the (critical) patient to the ICU is underway…” Iyer said.

Hathras Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Manjeet Singh said that the procedure of identifying the bodies brought is underway. 19 out of a total of 32 have been identified.

“A total of 116 people have died so far…32 bodies were brought here and 19 of them have been identified. We are identifying the rest of them…” said Hathras Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Manjeet Singh.

An eyewitness to the Hathras stampede incident, Shakuntala Devi told ANI, “There was a Satsang of Bhole Baba going on. Right after the Satsang finished, several people started coming out from there. A stampede took place as the road was uneven and people fell on each other…”