Rahul Gandhi to visit Hathras, meet kin of victims: Venugopal

Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has planned a visit to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh where 121 people, mostly women, were killed in a stampede at self-styled godman Bhole Baba's satsang (religious gathering) on 2 July, senior Congress leader K.C. Venugopal said on Thursday.

Terming the tragedy as an "unfortunate incident", the party general-secretary (organisation) said Gandhi would interact with the affected people during his visit. "It was an unfortunate incident. Rahul Gandhi will visit Hathras and interact with the people there," Venugopal said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a judicial probe into the Hathras tragedy. Police have lodged an FIR against the organisers of the congregation, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions, with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event, exceeding the permitted capacity of 80,000.

Meanwhile, district magistrate Asish Kumar said the bodies of all victims have been identified and handed over to their families. "There were three bodies which were unidentified till Wednesday. Two of them were identified late last night," Kumar told PTI on Thursday. One body has been identified by the family over a video call in Aligarh hospital and they are on their way to the facility, he added.

The police entered the ashram premises of religious preacher Jagat Guru Saakar Vishwahari Bhole Baba in Mainpuri and later said he was not present there. An officer said they had gone there to check the security arrangements.

In reply to a questions, circle officer Sunil Kumar Singh said police and special operation group (SOG) personnel entered the ashram premises on Wednesday night.

"There were 50-60 sevadars (volunteers), including women, inside the ashram," he said. Asked whether satsang preacher Bhole Baba was inside the ashram, the officer said, "He was there neither yesterday nor today."

With PTI inputs