Massive hunt for Hathras stampede key accused launched, inter-state searches for Baba too
Hathras (UP) (PTI): Uttar Pradesh government agencies have launched intensive searches across the state and in neighbouring Rajasthan and Haryana to trace Hathras stampede key accused Devprakash Madhukar, official sources said Friday.
A senior government official told PTI that the agencies, including the police, are also looking for preacher Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba for questioning in the case.
A total of 121 people, mostly women, were killed in the stampede after the preacher's satsang in Hathras' Fulrai village on July 2 in one of the worst tragedies in recent years.
While Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' (chief organiser of the satsang), is the only named accused in the FIR, Surajpal was not mentioned as accused.
Besides Madhukar, "several unidentified organisers" were also booked in the case, lodged at the Sikandra Rao Police Station and six suspects have been arrested so far.
"No one has been given a clean chit. The investigation is on and government agencies are searching for the main accused who is absconding. The agencies are also looking for the preacher to question him," the official told PTI.
"The teams have visited parts of western Uttar Pradesh and eastern-most districts of the state as part of the search operation. They are also looking in states like Rajasthan and Haryana," the official added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also been apprised of an SIT report on the stampede.
A report has been submitted to the government by the Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone) Anupam Kulshrestha who was among the top officers who visited Hathras to oversee rescue and relief measures after the stampede in Hathras on July 2.
The confidential report contains statements of the Hathras district magistrate Ashish Kumar, Superintendent of Police Nipun Aggarwal, and senior health department officials who tended to the emergency situation arising due to the stampede, according to the official.
An FIR in the matter was lodged on July 2 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).
The UP government has on Wednesday formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy, and to also look into the possibility that there was a "conspiracy" behind the stampede.
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Look-out circular issued against Union Minister Bandi Sanjay's son in POCSO case
Hyderabad (PTI): The Cyberabad police have issued a look-out circular against Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar's son Bandi Bageerath, who has been booked under the POCSO Act, to prevent him from fleeing the country.
A police official told PTI on Saturday that searches are being conducted to nab Bageerath.
Meanwhile, Telangana Rakshana Sena (TRS) president K Kavitha, in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanded the removal of Sanjay Kumar, MoS (Home), from the Union Cabinet "to ensure a free and fair investigation in the POCSO case involving his son".
In a setback to Bageerath, the Telangana High Court on Friday night did not grant him any interim protection from arrest.
Dealing with an interim anticipatory bail petition of Bageerath, the court said it was not inclined to grant any interim order at this stage.
The counsel for Bageerath had requested interim protection from arrest until the orders on the petition were issued.
The case was registered under relevant Sections of the BNS and POCSO Act on May 8 against Bageerath based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old girl, who alleged that Bageerath was in a relationship with her daughter and sexually harassed her.
After recording the statement of the victim, more stringent sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were invoked in the case.
Bageerath had also lodged a counter-complaint, alleging that the girl, who got acquainted with him, had invited him to family functions and group gatherings. An FIR was registered based on Bageerath’s complaint.
In the complaint, Bageerath stated that, believing the girl’s family to be trustworthy, he accompanied them on visits to certain holy places as part of a group of friends.
He further alleged that the girl and her parents later pressured him to marry her. When he rejected the proposal, the girl's parents allegedly demanded money and threatened to file false complaints against him if he failed to pay.
Bageerath claimed that, out of fear, he paid Rs 50,000 to the girl's father, but the family later demanded Rs 5 crore. He also alleged that they threatened that the girl's mother would commit suicide if he failed to meet their demands.
