Akhilesh Yadav condemns Hathras stampede incident, holds BJP govt responsible

New Delhi [India], July 3 (ANI): Coming down heavily upon the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the stampede incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras which has claimed 121 lives so far, Samajwadi Party (SP) Chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the BJP-led state government is “responsible” for the tragic incident.

He said that this was a very painful incident.

“It is a very painful incident. We are saddened by this incident. The Uttar Pradesh government and administration are fully responsible for this incident. The loss of lives in this incident is due to the negligence of the government”, Yadav said while speaking to reporters in Delhi.

The SP Chief also claimed that some injured died due to the unavailability of proper treatment.

“Some injured persons died due to lack of proper treatment. The BJP govt is responsible for this incident…This is not the first incident where negligence was seen. SOPs for large gatherings should be made to ensure that such incidents do not occur again”, he stated.

As many as 121 people have died while 35 have sustained injuries in the stampede incident which took place during a ‘Satsang’ in the Hathras district.

Sandip Kumar Singh Lodhi, Minister of State for Education (Independent Charge) in the Government of Uttar Pradesh confirmed that a total of 35 people sustained injuries.

“It is a very unfortunate incident and we have been following up on every update from Hathras all night. It is really sad that the death toll has reached 121. About 35 people are injured,” he said.

The Rajya Sabha also condoled the loss of lives in the Hathras stampede incident and expressed its deep sympathy to the families of the victims.

Earlier today, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath arrived in Hathras to meet the victims and their families.

He also held an interaction with the officials at the Hathras police line to take stock of the status quo.

An FIR, meanwhile, has been registered against Devprakash Madhukar, referred to as ‘Mukhya Sewadar’ and other organisers of the ‘Satsang’ where the stampede occurred.

Uttar Pradesh police have also launched a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district in search of Narayan Saakar Hari also known as Bhole Baba, the preacher of the ‘Satsang’ in Hathras.

The preacher however remains untraceable.

“We did not find Baba ji inside the campus. He is not here,” Deputy SP Sunil Kumar said earlier.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Minister Sandeep Singh has affirmed that strict actions would be taken against those responsible for the tragedy.

“Till now 121 people have died in the incident…The injured are being treated. Strict action will be taken against those found responsible for the incident. This is not a small incident”, he said.