DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2024, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `5.00 ● WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 INITIAL REPORT SUGGESTS PEOPLE STUMBLED WHILE GATHERING SOIL PREACHER WALKED ON; CM ORDERS PROBE At least 116 killed in stampede at Hathras religious gathering, most victims women Satsang by local preacher had SDM permission but large crowd gathered: officials ‘Bhole Baba’: UP Police constable who became a self-styled preacher DHEERAJ MISHRA & NEETIKA JHA MANISH SAHU LUCKNOW, JULY 2 HATHRAS, JULY 2 A SATSANG by a local preacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras turned into the site of a tragedy as 116 people, almost all of them women, were killed in a stampede on Tuesday. According to officials, the event in Phulrai village was addressed by Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari aka Bhole Baba, who has been active in the region and adjoining districts for 27 years. A preliminary investigation points to a host of factors that led to the incident — thousands more than expected turning up at the satsang; many falling on the uneven surface while trying to collect soil the preacher had walked on before he left the venue; and healthcare facilities A victim of the stampede at the district hospital in Hathras. Abhinav Saha struggling to keep pace with the rush of dead and injured. UttarPradeshChief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said after visiting the area, "A total of 116 people have died — seven children, one man, and the rest women. Seventy-two deceased have been identified so far. No person is missing.” “The chief sewadar (working for the preacher) had given an application that around 80,000 people will attend the programme. But many more arrived,breachingthelimit.Ahuge FULLCOVERAGE,P 10 police force was deployed. I am told that people rushed to touch his feet and tried to collect soil (from where he walked), and a stampedetookplace.Manypeoplefellinanearbydrain,"hesaid. There were a total of 78 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BEFORE HE became Narayan SakarVishwaHariorBholeBaba, the self-styled preacher who organised the satsang on Tuesday, he was Suraj Pal Singh, a constablewiththeUttarPradeshPolice. Sources said Singh, 58, hails from a Dalit family in Bahadur Nagar village of Kasganj district, about 65 km from Hathras where the stampede occurred. “After serving in the police force for about a decade, he left the job... His last posting was in Agra,” said a police officer who visited Singh's village after the stampede. While the exact date is not known, Singh is reported tohaveleftthepoliceforcesome time in the 1990s. “He is married and does not have any children. After leaving the police force, he adopted the REPLY TO DEBATE ON MOTION OF THANKS TO PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS PM on Rahul: Balak Buddhi... insults Hinduism; LoP’s remarks expunged name,BholeBaba,whilehiswife is known as Matashree,” said Zaffar Ali, husband of Bahadur Nagar village pradhan, Najis Khanam. Ali said Singh's family waswell-off,andhewasthesecond of three brothers. While his elder brother died a few years ago,hisyoungerbrother,Rakesh, a farmer, still lives in the village with his family. “Hebuiltanashramonhis30bigha land in the village. People from other districts, and even states, would visit the ashram to seekhisblessings;theywereprovided accommodation at the ashram,” Ali said. According to him, Singh left the village about five years ago, suspecting a conspiracy against him. “We heard he is now residing in Rajasthan. Last year, he returned to the village and entrusted his property to a Trust. A manager oversees the affairs of the ashram,” he said. BY UNNY Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha, Tuesday. PTI RAJKOT, JULY 2 EXPLAINED Attacks Cong in over 2-hour speech amid Opp’s Manipur chants VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, JULY 2 MOUNTINGAscathingattackon the Congress a day after he and his party were targeted by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Lok Sabha Tuesday that his government had a clear mandate for stability and continuity with a third consecutive term in office while the Congress, like a “parasite” (parjeevi) feeding on its allies for survival, remained in denial. Replying to the debate in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, Modi, who spoke for over two hours amid Opposition chants of “Justice for Manipur” and “Bharat Jodo”, accused the Congress and its “entire ecosystem” of attempting to “look down upon, abuse and insult Hinduism” and of plotting a “conspiracy to falsely” claim Hindus were violent. Alleging that the Congress was trying to spread chaos in defeatandwasdeliberatelyabusing Hindus,thePrimeMinisterurged the Speaker to take strict action to “defend the dignity of the House” against what happened Monday,whichwas“aslaponthe wisdom of our people and our great national traditions”. This was a reference to Rahul Gandhi’s speech in which he referredtoHinduismwhileattacking the BJP – remarks that were later expunged from the records (see accompanying report) – and prompted Modi to intervene, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE EDITORIAL PAGE THE FIRST FACE-OFF Both Government and Opposition seem to be still locked in campaign mode. Each should hit reset, refresh — and respect GLOBAL Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha, Tuesday. by the treasury benches, which were expunged by Speaker Om Birla late Monday night. Theexpunctionmove,which became public Tuesday, drew CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 SHOW-CAUSE TO U.S. FIRM IN PARLIAMENT DAYS AFTER the Manipur crisis failed to find a place in the President’s address to Parliament, newly elected Inner Manipur MP A Bimol Akoijam late Monday came all guns blazing against the BJP-led NDA government for “ignoring” the strife-torn state. “Is this silence communicatingtothepeopleof theNortheast and particularly Manipur that you do not matter in the Indian HITESH VYAS SUKRITA BARUAH PAGE 11 THE ELECTIONS IN IRAN PAGE 12 THE GUJARAT Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday seized 22 kg of gold, worth around Rs 15 crore, and Rs 3 crore in cash from a private office of suspended Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) town plannerMDSagathiya,whohasbeen arrested in connection to a case of disproportionate assets (DA) registeredintheaftermathof the TRP Game Zone fire, which had killed 27 people on May 25. The ACB said the seizures were made in connection to a case of DA registered against Sagathiya on June 19, following ACBsearchesathisofficeinRMC headquarters and residence on May 30. Sagathiya was also booked on June 8 for allegedly forging a minutes book of his office to create false records of meetings in the aftermath of the game zone fire. Hewaslodgedinjudicialcustody after his six-day remand in the case of forgery, registered by the Rajkot Crime Branch, ended on June 24. Following this, ACB had arrested him on Monday evening after securing his transfer warrant. A local court in Rajkot on Tuesday sent him to ACB custody till July 7. Late Monday, the ACB conductedsearchesatSagathiya’sprivateofficeinTwinStar,ahigh-end commercialhubinRajkotcity.The ACB said that while the office is owned by Sagathiya's brother DilipSagathiya,afarmer,itwasin possession of the town planner. “We intimated the court that we have recorded the statement of M D Sagathiya’s brother Dilip Sagathiya and that the latter has consented to open the office for the purpose of investigation Close to midnight, Cong Hindenburg denies Sebi claims on Manipur MP’s wake-up Adani short bet, names Kotak fund call to govt on its ‘silence’ Hindenburg neither client nor investor: Kotak Mahindra Bank PAGE 8 NEET PAPER ROW: PERPETRATORS WILL NOT BE SPARED, PM TELLS HOUSE KHARGE’S ‘VARNA MINDSET’ REMARK UPSETS DHANKHAR TRP Game Zone fire had killed 27 people. File GOPAL KATESHIYA NEW DELHI, JULY 2 SEVERALreferencestoHinduism inthecontextof theBJP,threereferencestotwoindustrialiststhat the Congress frequently mentions in context of the Modi government, two to the Agnipath scheme, and one each to the NEET row, Manipur and the PrimeMinisterspecifically.These were among the 14 bits from RahulGandhi’sfirstspeechasthe Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, lasting around 100 minutes and interrupted frequently ACB seizes 22 kg of gold, Rs 3 cr in cash from arrested Rajkot town planner’s office BUSINESS AS USUAL Deletions on Hinduism, Agnipath, NEET: Rahul says truth will prevail MANOJ C G DA CASE LODGED AFTER GAME ZONE FIRE MUMBAI, JULY 2 GUWAHATI, JULY 2 There’s hurt, anger and pain, says A Bimol Akoijam State’s scheme of things?” Akoijam said, addressing the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 US-BASED short-seller Hindenburg Research Monday denied allegations by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that, violating Indian market guidelines, it had colluded with a US investor for trading in shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd immediately prior and post the release of its report on the Adani Group in January 2023. In that report, Hindenburg had alleged that the Gautam The report and trade THE JANUARY 2023 report by Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, which the conglomerate denied. The report led to cancellation of the follow-on public offer of flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd. Sebi has alleged the report was used in collusion to make profit. Adani-ledgrouphadindulgedin stock manipulation and accounting fraud, which the portto-energyconglomeratehaddenied. The report was released prior to the launch of Adani Enterprises Ltd's (AEL) Rs 20,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO), which was later called off. The SEBI noticewasissuedto Hindenburg Research; Nathan Anderson,soleownerandshareholder member of Hindenburg; Hindenburg’s client Mark Kingdon, owner of Kingdon Capital, and his three entities, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Can you plan and fall in love, asks Bengal woman flogged in public PAGE 1 ANCHOR SWEETY KUMARI CHOPRA, JULY 2 “Prem ki bhebe chinte kora jaye (can you plan and fall in love)?” Days after a video came to light showing a Trinamool Congress functionary flogging a couple in public, the 38-year-old woman at the centre of the stormhastoldThe Indian Express that she can put the ignominy of being beaten and humiliated in public behind her as long as she gets to “live life on her own terms.” The woman spoke to The Indian Express from a home wheresheissequesteredinUttar Dinajpur.Outside,severalpolicemen stand guard. The woman, whoismarriedandhastwochildren, said that five years ago, she fell in love with another man. At first, they would meet in secret, she said. When her husband eventually found out, he asked her to leave home, and on June 27, she said she moved in with the other man, who is 35 and also married. To many in the village, she said, this was not acceptable. On June 28, a “salishi sabha” or kangaroo court was called, during which the main accused, TMC’s Tajimul Islam alias JCB, showed up. Clad in a black T-shirt and holding a weapon that seemed custom-made to mete out public justice, it was Islam who led theassault,shesaid.Surrounded by a crowd of dozens, the man andthewomanwerefloggedrelentlessly, even as they writhed in pain on the ground and ANOTHER WOMAN BEATEN, KILLS SELF Accused Tajimul Islam has been arrested. ANI IN ANOTHER incident, a woman reportedly died by suicide after she was allegedly beaten up by a group of people from her village over an alleged extramarital affair, in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal on June 29. Police said four persons have been arrested. REPORT,PAGE10 begged for mercy. The incident took place a stone’s throw from the woman’s home. The woman said she had fearedsuch“punishmentandassault” but she was not prepared for the video to go viral. “What happened here would have stayed here if the video didn’t spread,” she said. It was in the wake of the video that police slapped an attempted murder charge and the case set off widespread outrage. Islam, arrested on Sunday, is now in police custody, also booked under charges of molestation and assault. “I don’t know him, I didn’t see him. Who hitme,Ihavenoknowledge,”the woman said. She is trying to put up a brave face. “I am fine now. This (the 35-year-old’s house) is my home now, and I will not go back,” she said. “I was kicked, beaten up and abused for falling in love, but perhaps it was because I broke societal norms.” She said she has two children from her 18 years of marriage. “Theyaregrownup.Letmelivemy lifenow,”shesaid.“IknewIwould gothroughtheinsaaf(justice)and thenlivelifeonmyterms.” After the incident, which has become a political flashpoint in the state, the administration has instructed police to increase patrolling in rural areas and keep a check on salishi sabhas, a senior official told The Indian Express. Awomaninher40s,whowitnessedtheflogging,said,“Iwanted to stop the mob but you can’t just challenge the system. She was beatenupmorethantheman.” Anothervillagersaid“internal matters such as family disputes aresolvedinternally”and“wego to the police for bigger matters”. Ahmedabad