Indian police announced on Thursday that they had apprehended six individuals linked to the stampede during a Hindu religious gathering in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh earlier this week, which resulted in 121 fatalities. The incident occurred on Tuesday in the village of Phulrai Mughal Garhi, Hathras district, where approximately 250,000 people had assembled to hear the sermons of preacher Suraj Pal Singh, also referred to as 'Bhole Baba'. According to an initial police report, the event organizers had only secured permission for a gathering of 80,000 people. In a statement released on Wednesday, Baba attributed the stampede to 'anti-social elements' without providing further details. The arrested individuals, four men and two women, were associates of Baba and were implicated in the organization of the event that led to the tragedy, according to police.
Inspector-General Shalabh Mathur of Uttar Pradesh police stated to the media, 'When the stampede occurred, all those who organized the event fled the scene.' A.P. Singh, the lawyer for the preacher, announced that he would also represent the six arrested individuals. 'The police are fulfilling their duties, but those they have arrested are individuals whose family members were victims of the stampede,' Singh commented. 'The actual perpetrators of the stampede have escaped.'
The stampede erupted on Tuesday afternoon as attendees were leaving the event, which was held under a canopy near a highway, according to the initial police report. Several attendees rushed towards the preacher's vehicle but were halted by his aides, causing a disturbance in which some fell and were trampled. Others attempting to flee to open fields also slipped and fell on uneven terrain, impeding their escape. By Thursday, all the deceased, including 112 women and seven children, had been identified and their bodies returned to their families, officials confirmed.
