India stampede: Akhilesh Yadav alleges conspiracy in Hathras stampede arrests, demands judicial inquiry

Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo, claimed on Saturday (July 6) that the officials in the Indian state ofUttar Pradesh areattempting to conceal its failure by making "minor arrests" and allegedthe detentionsrelated to the stampede in Hathrasas a plot in itself.

In a post on X, Yadav sought a swift judicial investigation into the arrests andincluded a letter from Ankit Yadav, a Mainpuri district resident, claiming that his father had been falsely accused of being involved in the stampede.

“To hide its failure in the Hathras incident, the Uttar Pradesh government wants to shirk responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of people by making minor arrests. If this happens, it will mean that no one has learnt any lesson from the administrative failure in such events, and such accidents will keep repeating in the future," Yadav wrote.

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"The government and administration are needlessly arresting people who were away from the original venue with a specific motive and is preparing to hold them guilty after the arrest," he added.

"These arrests are a conspiracy in itself. There should be an immediate judicial inquiry into these arrests so that the game of the BJP government of U.P. can be exposed in front of the public,” Yadav posted on X.

The former chief minister attacked the BJP administration, claiming that the government had no right to be in office if it claimed it had nothing to do with the incidents.

“Most of the poor people who attended this programme were exploited, oppressed, deprived, and suppressed; on this basis, it also means that the BJP government has no concern for such people. Whereas the government’s attention should first be directed towards such people,” he wrote.

To investigate the Hathras tragedy and the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede, the state government appointed a three-member judicial panel led by a former High Court judge.

So far, six 'sevadars' (volunteers), including the primary suspect Devprakash Madhukar, who was a member of the organising committee, have been taken into custody by the police.

(With inputs from agencies)