What happened in Hathras? All you need to know about Bhole Baba, stampede

A day after 121 people died in the stampede in Bhole Baba’s satsang in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, the police on Wednesday didn’t name the preacher in their FIR.

Since the incident on Tuesday, the preacher has maintained a low profile, with the police saying he hasn’t turned up at his sprawling ashram in Mainpuri.

Bhole Baba is also known as Baba Narayan Hari and Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba. He quit the police department over two decades ago and became a religious preacher. He presides over several ashrams. The biggest among them, however, is his ashram in Mainpuri.

The police on Wednesday beefed up the security around his Mainpuri ashram. However, they claimed, the self-styled godman wasn’t inside the premises.

Bhole Baba, in his sermons, appeared to be equating himself with God.

“I go to temples, gurdwara, mosques and churches. I reach wherever I am called from. And if I am not called, I don’t go,” he says in one of the videos of his sermons.

According to a preliminary report, the stampede took place after the godman’s security detail pushed his followers as they tried to collect the dirt around his feet. The slippery slope exacerbated the situation.

His two upcoming congregations have been cancelled by the authorities.

He is a native of Bahadurnagar village in Kasganj district. He is 60 years old and doesn’t have any children.

Locals said he had adopted a girl, who died around 16-17 years back. Baba had kept her body at home for two days hoping she would come alive, they claimed. The police had to intervene and the girl was cremated thereafter, they added, per PTI.

Villagers claim the baba never asks for donations.

His ashrams were built with voluntary donations.

The Uttar Pradesh police on Wednesday lodged the FIR against the organisers of the religious congregation in Hathras, accusing them of hiding evidence and flouting conditions with 2.5 lakh people gathering for the event in which only 80,000 were permitted. They have booked Devprakash Madhukar and other organisers.

The complainant claimed that the satsang triggered a traffic jam on the GT road.

He came to the venue at 2 pm on Tuesday. His followers bent to take the mud from his feet. Those running out from the spot were stopped by stick-wielding helpers of the baba standing on the other side of a three-feet deep field filled with water and slush due to which women, children and men got crushed, it said.

His lawyer, AP Singh, said that the stampede took place because of a conspiracy by some anti-social elements.

“Some anti-social elements hatched a conspiracy. When Narayan Saakar Hari left the venue, his vehicles left, and our volunteers and followers failed to understand what was happening due to the conspiracy. This was done as per a plan and should be investigated,” he said.

He said the preacher never allowed his followers to touch his feet. He also refuted the claim that people were scrambling to collect mud from around his feet.