NEW DELHI: With the Uttar Pradesh government’s judicial commission probing the July 2 stampede interacted with locals in Hathras, besides officials and witnesses of the tragedy that claimed 121 lives, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded compensation for the victims be increased and the lawyer of godman Bhole Baba, alias Narayan Sakar Hari, alleged that some people had opened cans of poisonous substances in the crowd, triggering the stampede.Briefing the media after reviewing the incident site, retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava, who is heading the three-member judicial panel, said that if needed, they will question the self-styled godman and will issue public notices soon to ask locals and witnesses to come forward and record their statements or share evidence.“We have been mandated to file our inquiry report within two months,” Shrivastava said. Meanwhile, at a press conference in the national capital, the godman’s lawyer A.P. Singh claimed that witnesses told him that some people opened cans containing poisonous substances in the crowd during the “satsang”, triggering the stampede. He alleged a conspiracy behind the July 2 stampede in Hathras and attributed it to Bhole Baba’s “rising popularity”.“Witnesses have reached out to me and said there were 15-16 people carrying cans of poisonous substances that they opened in the crowd. I have seen post-mortem reports of those killed and it showed that they died of asphyxiation and not because of injuries,” he claimed.“There were vehicles parked at the site to help the men escape. We have proof and we will submit it,” Singh said. He demanded security for the witnesses as they reached out to him, requesting anonymity.Amid the ongoing probe, Rahul Gandhi, in a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, urged the state government to increase the compensation for the victims of the stampede. “The compensation announced by the Uttar Pradesh government is inadequate. I urge that the amount of compensation be increased and it should be given as soon as possible,” Gandhi said, adding that the injured should be given proper treatment and adequate compensation.“The incident is so tragic that I fell short of words while meeting the family members (of the victims). It is not possible to compensate for what they have lost in this incident in any way, but we can definitely try to reduce their suffering by helping the affected families in every possible way,” Gandhi wrote in his letter. He demanded “severe punishment” for the guilty.
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