A petition seeking appointment of a five-member expert committee under a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the Hathras stampede incident was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, PTI reported. The incident claimed 121 lives as per the latest death toll.
According to PTI report, the petition was filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari. It also sought a direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on the July 2 incident and initiate legal action against the officials and others for their negligent conduct.
The petition has also sought a direction to all state governments to submit a report on the status of medical facilities available from block/tehsil to district level to tackle stampede incidents.
A stampede at a religious congregation killed 121 people on Tuesday, most of them women, as worshippers suffocated and bodies piled up on top of each other in the worst such tragedy in recent years.
According to the Relief Commissioner’s Office, the number of people injured in Tuesday’s incident stands at 28. Of the total fatalities, 19 are yet to be identified, it said, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday filed an FIR against the organisers of the religious congregation in Hathras where 121 people were killed in the Hathras stampede, accusing them of hiding evidence and violating conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event where only 80,000 were allowed, PTI reported.
However, the head of the congregation or satsang Jagat Guru Saakar Vishwahari has not been named in the FIR though his name is in the complaint.
The FIR alleged that the organisers concealed the actual number of devotees who came to the satsang while seeking permission, failed to cooperate in managing traffic and concealed evidence after the stampede, which broke out when people gathered there stopped to collect mud from the road on which the baba’s vehicle was passing.
The organisers requested permission for around 80,000 people, which was met with a response from the police and administration.
However, more than 250,000 people gathered at the event. By not following the permit conditions, the GT road was hit by a traffic jam and police and administration officials were working to clear it, the FIR said.
