SATYENDRA Yadav was walking towards his vehicle after the ‘satsang’ when his wife called -- their three-year-old son Chhota had died in the stampede that had broken out moments earlier. The 29-year-old driver from Delhi had reached here with his family, including his mother and two sisters-in-law. Just before the programme ended, Yadav, along with his mother and elder son, Mayank (4), started walking towards his vehicle, a three-wheeler loader. “As we reached my vehicle, I got a call from my wife...She said, ‘Pilua thaane aa jaao, Chhota khatam ho gayaa hai’ (Come to the Pilua police station, Chhota is no more),” Yadav told PTI. The three-year-old son of Yadav, Rovin, was affectionately called as Chhota by his family. He was among the 121 people, who died in the stampede here on Tuesday. Like Rovin, there are more families who lost their children in the tragic incident. For the brother-sister duo Kaavya (3) and Ayush (9), the bus journey from Jaipur, Rajasthan, on Monday evening to the event venue here proved to be their last.

 

Both the grieving families said they never imagined that such an incident would take place at a religious gathering.

Yadav said he, along with his wife, their two sons and his wife’s two sisters, had left Delhi on Monday night at around 11 pm and reached here by 5.30 am (on Tuesday). His mother had reached the event from their village in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, separately. “It is indeed very devastating for me and my family,” Yadav, who performed the last rites of his son in his village on Tuesday night, said. High security outside ashram: A LARGE number of police personnel has been deployed outside the ashram of a religious preacher a day after stampede at his ‘Satsang’ in Hathras district killed 121 people and injured 31, officials said Wednesday.

 

However, the officials remained tight-lipped when asked if Baba Narayan Hari, also known as Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba, was inside the ashram. But, some police sources said he indeed was inside. Police Personnel pooled from many police stations have been deployed outside the ashram at Bicchwan here and no one, including the media, is allowed in. According to the latest list released by the Relief Commissioner’s Office in Lucknow, 121 persons have died and 35 are injured in the incident in Hathras. Circle Officer Sunil Kumar Singh said security has been tightened after the stampede incident. When asked if Baba is inside, he did not give a reply. The stampede took place on Tuesday as the ‘satsang’ ended. Some accounts said people slipped in the slush as they ran after the preacher’s car, triggering the stampede. Tens of thousands of devotees had gathered in the Hathras district for the ‘satsang’.