At least 100 people were killed at a religious congregation in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras due to a stampede on July 2. The devotees were attending a ‘Satsang’ organised at the behest of Narayan Sarkar Hari also known as ‘Bhole Baba’. The police are now searching the self styled Goldman who was missing from the location after the stampede.
The spiritual leader Suraj Pal alias Narayan Shankar Hari hails from Bahadur Nagar Village in Patiyali Tehsil of Kasganj district in Uttar Pradesh. He joined UP police and was a head constable working for over 18 years. According to his followers he claims to be a former employee of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
In 1999, he retired from the service, changed his name to Narayan Saakar Hari and began holding ‘satsangs’.
According to a reports, he lived in a hut in his village and travelled across the state of Uttar Pradesh to preach and organise religious events. Bhole Baba has millions of followers across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Bhole Baba’s ashram is spread over 30 acres. He moves with a cavalcade of cars and has his personal security.
Unlike other spiritual leaders, this self styled Goldman prefers to stay away from the social media but he has been embroiled in controversies before. In 2022, during Covid, he held a similar Satsang in UP’s Farrukhabad even as Covid cases were on the rise. While the district administration only permitted 50 people to attend the event over 50,000 people eventually attended the event.
