Hathras stampede: Rahul Gandhi meets with families of victims
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Aligarh/Hathras: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi met the relatives of the victims of the Hathras stampede, which left over a dozen people injured and 121 dead after he arrived in Pilakhna village in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday.
After meeting the family, Rahul Gandhi asked them about the situation and the assistance they had received. He gave them his word that he would take up their concerns in the appropriate forum and offer them all the assistance they needed.
The Congress leader later visited Hathras where he met the injured and those who had lost their kin in the stampede.
The stampede took place on Tuesday evening at a Satsang of self-styled godman Suraj Pal who also goes by the names of Narayan Sakar Hari and 'Bhole Baba', IANS reported.
An FIR has been registered in the incident naming organizers of the event but the accused have not yet been arrested. The police arrested six persons, known as sewadars, who were supporters of the preachers and were managing the event.
Police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri on Thursday for Suraj Pal.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mainpuri Sunil Kumar said on Wednesday that 'Bhole Baba' was not found inside his ashram.
Superintendent of Hathras City, Rahul Mithas also said that they did not find the preacher in the ashram.
On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the site of the tragedy and ordered a judicial probe into the incident.
A three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava has been constituted to ensure comprehensiveness of the subject matter and transparency in the inquiry.
The Judicial Commission will investigate the stampede incident over the next two months and submit its report to the state government.
As per the prima facie report, the stampede took place when devotees rushed to seek blessings and collect soil from around the preacher's feet, but were stopped from doing so by his security personnel. They then started pushing one another due to which several people fell triggering chaos at the site.