Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede that killed 121 people, was arrested after surrendering to police in Delhi on Friday night, according to his lawyer. He was susequently arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police who were in pursuit of him. Madhukar, the’mukhya sevadar’ of the’satsang’, is the sole accused named in the FIR filed at Sikandra Rao police station. Madhukar’s lawyer, A P Singh, claimed in a video message that his client had surrendered in Delhi while receiving medical treatment. Uttar Pradesh police had offered a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukar’s arrest.
Until Thursday, six people, including two women volunteers, were members of the organising committee of Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba’s satsang where the stampede took place.
Who Is Devprakash Madhukar?
Dev Prakash Madhukar is a close aide of Narayaan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba. He was fired from his contract position as a technical assistant in the Sheetalpur block of the Etah district in Uttar Pradesh, where he had been overseeing MGNREGA work in 20 panchayats since 2010.
Block development officer (Sheetalpur), Dinesh Sharma, said that following Madhukar’s name being listed as the main accused in the FIR and the Hathras police declaring a reward of Rs 1 lakh on him, the procedure for his removal and contract termination has been started.
Following an inspection of MGNREGA development work in the Sheetalpur block, Madhukar was tasked with preparing bills and vouchers. His wife is a panchayat assistant, and they live in the Hathras town of Sikandra Rau.
He worked hard to get residents of his home village involved with the self-proclaimed godman Suraj Pal’s (also known as Bhole Baba) organisation. Madhukar also ran for village pradhan but lost. About 30 people from Madhukar’s village had gone to Hathras for the satsang.
