The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government is deliberately suppressing the true number of fatalities in the recent Maha Kumbh stampede at Prayagraj.

In a preliminary investigation, PUCL’s Uttar Pradesh unit found that authorities had employed various tactics to underreport the death toll.

“The Uttar Pradesh State unit of the PUCL found in its preliminary investigation that the Government of Uttar Pradesh have used several devices to hide the actual number of fatalities. Dead bodies were sent to two different postmortem centers and the place and date of their retrieval has been manipulated in some cases,” the PUCL said in a statement.

Further, PUCL members who visited Swaroop Rani Hospital discovered photographs of unidentified victims pasted in a register.

“From the condition of the bodies, it was clear that many of them had been crushed. But a notice recently put up has prohibited any taking of photographs,” the statement added.

Expressing deep sorrow over the tragic loss of lives, PUCL criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for its failure to uphold its fundamental constitutional duty—the protection of citizens’ right to life.

The organization has demanded full transparency and accountability regarding the lapses that led to the disaster on January 29, 2025.

Additionally, PUCL has called upon the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), chaired by the Prime Minister, to publicly release its assessment of the causes behind the stampede.