Hathras Stampede: After Key Accused' Arrest, Cops Probe Political Links, 'Funding' From Party

The 42-year-old Madhukar, who was the only named key accused in the FIR, was arrested late Friday from Delhi's Najafgarh area by a Special Operations Group of Hathras police.

On July, over 121 persons lost their lives in a terrifying stampede that broke out at religious congregation -- a satsang -- in UP's Hathras. The event was of a self-styled 'godman' Bhole Baba alias Narayan Sakar Hari and originally Surajpal. The Baba's whereabouts since then remain unknown.

While investigations have revealed that the event, which had permission for a gathering of 80,000 people, saw 2.5 lakh attendees. The overwhelming crowd which then ran to allegedly collect the soil of the Baba's exit path after the conclusion of the satsang, ended up being the deadly stampede, that left several families in mourning.

Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal said they suspected that Bhole Baba's events were "funded" by a political party, adding that officials were looking into the new found links.

The SP noted that investigations revealed that some political parties had contacted him some time back.

Agarwal noted that Madhukar used to work as a fundraiser for Surajpal's events and collected donations. "His financial transactions and money trails are being looked into, and call detail records are also being checked," he added.

"A detailed investigation is being conducted regarding the collection of funds to see if such programmes and other resources are being funded by any political party. From the investigation so far, it appears that some political party is connected with them for its political and personal interests," the senior official added.

Meanwhile, two more suspects -- Ramprakash Shakya (61) and Sanju Yadav (33) -- were also held in Hathras in connection with the stampede.

Madhukar's lawyer, on Friday night, had claimed that he had surrendered to the police in Delhi, where he had come for medical treatment.

The 'mukhya sevadar' of the satsang, Madhukar, was taken to the Bagla Combined District Hospital in Hathras for medical examination amid heavy security arrangements on Saturday.

All the bank accounts, movable and immovable assets, money trail and all other things related to Madhukar are being probe, with assistance from other agencies, Agarwal said.

As per preliminary interrogation, Madhukar said that he had been working as a junior engineer in MNREGA in Etah since 2010, on contract.

"Madhukar was the main organiser of the satsang programme in Fulrai village on July 2 and the permission for this programme was taken by him. Thus, two roles of Madhukar have come to light -- the main organiser and fundraiser," the IPS officer said.

Agarwal said the accused and the sevadars/organising committee members working under his direction were "fully responsible" for the barricading, entrance gate, exit gate, seating arrangements, parking and other facilities around the pandal of the satsang.

The SP said that accused Madhukar will join the probe and share information about the "anti-social elements" at Bhole Baba's satsang.

Meanwhile, the three-member judicial inquiry committee headed by a retired High Court judge, arrived in Hathras to conduct its probe. They will also be looking into a possible angle of 'conspiracy' behind the tragedy.

The committee includes Allahabad High Court retired judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastav, retired IAS officer Hemant Rao, and retired IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar.

"We inspected the entire spot. We have noted down everything… What were the exit points, what would have been the capacity. We will not be able to draw any conclusions right now," Srivastav told media at the site of the stampede.

(with PTI inputs)