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Swami untraceable after stampede |
LUCKNOW: A day after a stampede at his
ashram left 63 women and children dead, Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj on Saturday
disappeared from Pratapgarh amid speculation that the state administration could
haul him up for deaths.
Maharajji — as he is popularly known
among his followers — was nowhere to be seen as cops and authorities
swarmed the ashram. He is supposedly immobile because of a leg fracture. "He
fled the scene two hours after the incident," said Ikpal Singh, circle officer,
Pratapgarh.
His disciples, sources said, had warned him of rising
anger among the locals and a possible backlash that could be violent. He
remained inaccessible to the media all through Friday except for his telephonic
statement to a couple of news agencies released from an undisclosed
destination.
In the statement, he said he was moved by the loss of
human lives in the Saturday stampede at his Mangarh Ashram in Kunda but said it
was brought on by the victims themselves. The godman emphasised that his ashram
had neither invited anyone and nor the incident took place within its precincts.
"We never invite anyone. But the fact that free items are
distributed at the ashram is spread by the word of mouth. Therefore, the crowd
has been increasing every passing year," he said in his statement. His disciples
in Mangarh on Friday claimed the local police was informed about the event in
advance. "How can they say that we did not inform them. I have copies of both
the letters we gave to them," said Dr DP Singh, one of the ashram hospital
consultants.
All that the police did even a day later was lodge an
FIR. It was filed against "a manager and an organiser" of the event. The two
unidentified individuals have been charged under Section 304 (A) of the IPC that
covers charges of causing death due to negligence.
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