Maya questions exclusion of Bhole Baba’s name from charge sheet in Hathras stampede case

LUCKNOW Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati slammed the state government over the exclusion of self-proclaimed godman Surajpal alias Bhole Baba’s name from the 3,200-page charge sheet in the July 2 Hathras stampede case. The charge sheet in the incident at Phulrai village, which led to 121 deaths, was submitted to a court on Tuesday.
In series of posts on social media platform X on Thursday, the BSP chief said: “The exclusion of Surajpal Singh alias Bhole Baba’s name from the chargesheet filed in connection with the death of 121 people, mostly women and children, in the stampede on July 2 is anti-people politics, which proves that such people are protected by the state government.”
“According to the media, 11 sevadars had been accused in the charge sheet regarding this incident, but is the government’s silence on Surajpal justified? Is it possible to prevent such incidents in future with such a government attitude? The common people are worried,” she said.
The Hathras police on Tuesday filed a 3200-page charge sheet in the court of Hathras chief judicial magistrate against 11 accused, including two women sevadars (volunteers), in connection with the death of 121 people in the stampede on July 2.
The stampede took place during a satsang addressed by Surajpal, a resident of Bahadur Nagar village in Patiali tehsil of Kasganj district in UP. Dev Prakash Madhukar, the chief organizer of the event, was the prime accused in the charge sheet.
The UP government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a judicial commission to probe the stampede. The SIT submitted its report to chief minister Yogi Adityanath on July 9. The state government suspended six officials, including SDM, tehsildar, circle officer and in-charge of Sikandra Rao police station.