AGRA, Aug. 7 -- The trial in the Hathras stampede case is set to begin following the framing of charges against 11 accused by a court of additional sessions judge on Wednesday. The accused face charges under multiple sections, including culpable homicide, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. The trial relates to the stampede that occurred on July 2, 2024, during a 'satsang' organised at Phulrai village by self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba. At least 121 people died in the incident. Surajpal was neither named in the FIR filed on July 2, 2024, nor in the 3,200-page charge sheet submitted by Hathras police on October 1, 2024. However, he had appeared before the judicial commission in Lucknow to record his statement. Munna Singh Pundhir, the counsel for all 11 accused, stated that the trial will commence on August 18, with 676 witnesses listed by the police to be examined. All 11 accused are currently out on bail. Dev Prakash Madhukar, the chief organiser of the event, remains the prime accused. He was the first to be named in the case registered at the Sikandra Rao police station in Hathras on the night following the incident. The FIR was registered against Madhukar and others on charges of misleading the administration by seeking permission for a gathering of 80,000 devotees, whereas over 2 lakh people turned up for the religious congregation at Phulrai village, Pundhir said. The other ten accused are Mukesh Kumar, Manju Yadav, Manju Devi, Ram Ladete, Upendra Singh Yadav, Megh Singh, Sanju Kumar, Ram Prakash Shakya, Durvesh Kumar and Dalveer Singh, Pundhir added. In its order, the court said that the accused concealed the actual number of devotees expected to attend the satsang and used force when the crowd surged, leading to the stampede, which claimed 121 lives. They were booked under sections 105 (culpable homicide), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 190 (liability of a member of an unlawful assembly for offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Mahendra Srivastava, the additional sessions judge (Court No. I), framed charges under sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint) and 238 of the BNS. The accused also face charges under sections 223, 121(1), and 61(2) of the BNS, besides Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act....