Indian pastor denies responsibility for deaths, lawyer tells BBC

The preacher who led a crowded rally in India where more than 120 people were crushed to death on Tuesday has denied responsibility and vowed to cooperate with the police investigation.

A lawyer for the self-proclaimed guru known as Bhole Baba told the BBC that the incident happened “because of anti-social elements” and blamed the incident on a “criminal conspiracy against” his client.

On Thursday, police said they had arrested six people who were part of the committee that organized the event.

Almost all of those killed were women and children, who were attending satsang – a Hindu religious festival – in Hathras district.

The case has sparked outrage in India and questions about the lack of security measures.

Bhole Baba – whose real name is Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari – will cooperate fully with the investigation, his lawyer AP Singh said.

Mr Singh also denied reports that festival security personnel triggered panic by pushing back people trying to seek blessings from Bhole Baba.

“This is a completely false accusation,” Mr Singh told the BBC. “Security personnel always provide assistance to worshippers.”

It is one of the worst tantrums to hit India in years.

Shocking images of the aftermath of the disaster have circulated online, showing people driving the injured to hospital in pick-up trucks, tuk-tuks and even on motorbikes.

The riot took place in Pulrai village, where Bhole Baba was holding a religious gathering.

An initial police report said authorities had allowed 80,000 people to gather, but some 250,000 people showed up for the event.

The report said the chaos began when the preacher left. Witnesses said people lost their footing and began falling on top of each other as hundreds of people rushed toward the preacher as he left the hall.

As people ran after his vehicle, survivors said a number of people sitting or crouching on the ground were crushed.

Local resident Yogesh Yadav was one of the first to arrive at the scene and told the BBC that hundreds of women ran after Bhole Baba’s car as he drove away.

“Some crossed the highway to get a better view of his car. In the melee, many women fell into the gutter adjacent to the highway. People started falling on each other,” Mr Yadav said.

The police document added that some people tried to cross the road towards a patch of mud-soaked fields, but were forcibly stopped by organisers and crushed.

Bhole Baba was originally named Suraj Pal, but is said to have renamed himself Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari.

A senior Uttar Pradesh police official told BBC Hindi that the preacher had been a police officer but had been suspended from duty after criminal proceedings were initiated against him.

He was reinstated in the police force after a court cleared him, but he left his job in 2002, the senior officer said.

The preacher gathered hundreds of thousands of followers in Hathras and neighbouring districts.

Bhole Baba is known to have an ashram at Mainpuri, about 100 km (62 miles) from Pulrai village.

His lawyer told the BBC that his client was now at his ashram. The preacher’s name was not mentioned in the initial police complaint.