Who is Bhole Baba, the Spiritual Leader Behind the Fatal Stampede in Hathras?

Who is Bhole Baba, the Spiritual Leader Behind the Fatal Stampede in Hathras?

A rush at a spiritual meeting in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday resulted in over 120 deaths and several injuries. In Hathras’ Phulrai Mugalgadhi village, a spiritual leader known as Bhole Baba, aka Narayan Sakar Hari, was leading the congregation, which was organized by the Manav Mangal Milan Sadbhavana Samagam Committee. Although the organizers secured permission to hold the religious program, inadequate preparations prevented the rush from occurring during it.

Overcrowding appears to be the cause of the stampede, according to Sikandra Rao police station SHO. Additionally, Ashish Kumar stated this in a statement to media outlets earlier in the day. Large crowds of people attended the event, and signs advertising it were put up across Hathras to draw in additional attendees. The Manav Mangal Milan Sadbhavana Samagam Committee and a few more are listed as the organizers on the poster.

The rush occurred during the “Satsang” event hosted by Patiyali, Etah-based spiritual leader Bhole Baba, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari. There are rumours that Narayan Saakar Hari used to assist his father at their farms. Later, he became a police officer and worked in the Uttar Pradesh Police’s local intelligence unit. He worked for seventeen years before assuming the persona of a godman.

Narayan Saakar Hari, also known as “Sakar Vishwa Hari Baba of Patiali,” is frequently pictured wearing white clothing, in contrast to other godmen and godwomen who are typically depicted wearing saffron. Hundreds of people typically show up to his events. He is also seen preaching alongside his spouse. He added that after retiring as a police officer, he left his profession to start a preaching career.

The Uttar Pradesh government announced that the program’s organizers would be the subject of a formal complaint. Twenty-seven bodies have arrived at the hospital in Etah, according to Senior Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar Singh of Etah. A guy, three children, and twenty-three women were among the deceased. A district official later stated in an update based on hospital reports that 50 to 60 people were thought to have died.

The Sikandara Rao Trauma Centre received the victims’ transportation in trucks and other vehicles. The graves were located distant from the hospital. In a sensational social media video, a weeping woman was seated between five or six corpses inside a vehicle. Another image displayed a woman and a man in another car, both of them lifeless. As they were exiting the site after the “Satsang,” according to an eyewitness, a stampede broke out as they tumbled over one another.

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Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered his sympathies to the relatives of those slain in the stampede and declared that the injured would receive Rs 50,000 apiece, while the families of the deceased would receive Rs 2 lakh ex gratia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the injured would receive Rs. 50,000 and that the next of kin of each deceased person in the Hathras accident would receive an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from the PMNRF.