Indian missionary denies blame for deaths, lawyer tells BBC

The preacher who led a mass rally in India where more than 120 people were trampled to death on Tuesday has denied responsibility and pledged to cooperate with a police investigation.

A lawyer for self-proclaimed guru Bhole Baba told the BBC the stampede happened “due to some anti-social factors” and blamed “a criminal conspiracy against” his client.

Police said on Thursday they had arrested six people involved in the event’s organizing committee.

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

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

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

Mr Singh also denied reports that security forces at the festival had caused panic by pushing away people trying to seek Bhole Baba’s blessings.

“It is a completely false allegation,” Mr Singh told the BBC. “Security personnel always support the followers.”

This is one of the worst stampedes to occur in India in years.

Shocking images of the aftermath of the disaster have circulated online, showing people ferrying the injured to hospital in pickup trucks, tuk tuks and even motorbikes.

The stampede occurred in Pulrai village, where Bhole Baba was holding a religious ceremony.

Initial police reports said officials had allowed 80,000 people to gather, but about 250,000 people attended the event.

The report said the chaos began as the preacher drove away. Witnesses said people lost their balance and began falling over each other as hundreds of people rushed toward the preacher as he left the venue.

As people ran after his car, survivors said some people squatting on the ground were crushed.

One of the first to arrive at the scene, local resident Yogesh Yadav, told the BBC that hundreds of women ran after Bhole Baba’s car as he drove away.

“Some people crossed the highway to get a better look at his car. In the melee, many women fell into the drain near the highway. People started falling on each other,” Mr Yadav said.

Police documents added that some people tried to cross the road to a muddy field but were blocked and crushed by organizers.

Bhole Baba was originally named Suraj Pal, but it is said that he changed his name to Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari.

A senior police officer in Uttar Pradesh told BBC Hindi that the preacher was a former police officer, but was suspended after a criminal case was filed against him.

He was reinstated after the court acquitted him but left the service in 2002, the senior officer said.

This preacher attracted hundreds of thousands of followers in Hathras and neighboring districts.

It is known that Bhole Baba had an ashram in Mainpuri, about 100km (62 miles) from Pulrai village.

His lawyer told the BBC that his client is currently at the ashram. The preacher was not named in the initial police complaint.