Revision as of 09:49, 13 July 2024

A brief biography

The 2000 ‘resurrection’ case

Manish Sahu, July 3, 2024: The Indian Express

Before he came to be known as Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari or Bhole Baba – a self-styled preacher –  the former UP constable Suraj Pal, along with his wife Premvati and four others, was booked for allegedly claiming to possess “magical powers” to “resurrect” a teenaged girl who died in Agra in 2000, police said on Wednesday. At the time, Suraj Pal was living in Kedar Nagar in the Shahganj area of Agra, officers said.

Tejveer Singh, who was the station house officer of Shahgan thenj, told The Indian Express on Wednesday that the case dates back to March 2000, when a 16-year-old local girl died of natural causes.

“Suraj Pal, along with over 200 people, reached the cremation ground where the body was taken by her family for the last rites. Suraj Pal and others stopped the family from performing the last rites and tried to convince them that he could resurrect her,” said Tejveer Singh.

According to police station records, the case was registered on March 18, 2000.  Singh claimed that the accused forcibly took the body and placed it at a spot on the cremation ground. A few people who were with the family members of the girl raised an objection and one of them informed the police.

“When we reached the spot, Suraj Pal and his supporters argued with us. Suraj Pal claimed he could resurrect the girl. His supporters then started pelting stones at the police team. Additional police personnel were called in and the situation was brought under control. We arrested Suraj Pal and the others involved,” claimed Singh, who was later promoted to Deputy Superintendent of Police and retired from the police force in 2019.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Agra, Suraj Kumar Rai, said the police also filed a chargesheet against the accused. Later, further investigation was conducted after new evidence emerged. “On the basis of evidence collected during the further investigation, a closure report was filed in the case,” added Rai.

According to police station records, the closure report was filed on December 2, 2000. Suraj Pal, who hails from a Dalit family in Kasganj, served in the police force for nearly a decade before leaving the job. It is yet to be ascertained whether he was dismissed or took voluntary retirement.

The 2024 stampede

Neetika Jha, Manish Sahu, July 4, 2024: The Indian Express

Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari or ‘Bhole Baba’, the local preacher who addressed the ‘satsang’ in Hathras where the stampede occurred— the toll rose to 121— is revered by his followers who believe he’s a “healer” with “cures”, an “exorcist” who “gets rid of evil spirits”, and a “godman” with “magical powers” who can grant their wishes.

Over more than two decades now, after leaving the Uttar Pradesh Police in the 1990s where he was Constable Suraj Pal from Kasganj, to become a self-styled religious preacher, he has gathered a considerable following — mostly low-income Dalit families, where the men are employed as labourers, masons, agricultural labourers, safai karmacharis, carpenters or carpet-sellers, many of whom were witness to his rising popularity.

Many said what drew them to ‘Bhole Baba’, also from a Dalit family, was that he did not seek any offerings. “Baba does not take or ask for anything. In his satsang, he would tell us not to lie, and not to consume meat, fish, egg and alcohol,” said Urmila Devi, who had accompanied her sister, Taramati, to the satsang.

Taramati, a widow, is among those injured. The two sisters are residents of Mathura. This was the fourth time Taramati was attending a satsang addressed by ‘Bhole Baba’, and she had asked her sister to join this time.

Like the two sisters, most of the women devotees are in the 40-70 years age group. “As the satsang was getting over, Bhole Baba said, ‘aaj pralay aayegi, aur phir pralay aa gayee (today is doomsday, and he was right),” said Taramati from her hospital bed.

According to residents of Donkeli village in Hathras district, ‘Bhole Baba’ has 10 to 12 sevadars (main followers) in every village. “They come and inform people in the village about the satsang, and ferry them to the venue in cars and buses,” said a villager. Many of his followers wear a yellow locket with his photo around their necks.

The authorities have said that a scramble among devotees to collect the dust from the preacher’s feet was among the causes of the stampede. Vivek Thakur, an auto-rickshaw driver from the village, said his devotees believe that “if you apply the dust from his feet on your body or head, it will heal all ailments”.

In Sokhana village of Hathras, from where four persons died in the stampede, residents said ‘Bhole Baba’ would routinely perform exorcisms, mostly on young girls. “At the satsang yesterday, there were more than 100 people who were possessed, and he cured them all,” claimed a villager who did not want to be named.

“He would ask followers to perform good deeds so that they would be rewarded with a better life in their next birth. He told us that if we followed the path of good, we would be born into better circumstances in our next life,” said some women in Damadpura in Sikandrarao.

“When I got married in 2001, he was not as famous, but his popularity increased over time. If you attend his satsangs more than seven times, you can become a sevadar. The sevaders have a special dress. Women wear pink saris and men also wear a pink uniform,” said another devotee.

Meanwhile, a retired police officer, Tejveer Singh, who was then the Station House Officer of Shahganj, Agra, recalled the arrest of the preacher in March 2000. “Suraj Pal, along with 200-250 people, arrived at the cremation ground where the body of a 16-year-old girl had been brought by her family. Suraj Pal and the others stopped the family from performing the last rites, and tried to convince them that he could resurrect her,” he said.

According to police station records, the girl, Sneh Lata, was the daughter of a local resident. The case was lodged on March 18, 2000.

Singh said the accused forcibly took the body from the family. Meanwhile, the police were informed. “When we reached the spot, Suraj Pal and his supporters argued with us. He claimed that he could resurrect the girl. His supporters then started pelting stones at the police team. Additional police personnel were called in, and the situation was brought under control. We arrested Suraj Pal and the others involved,” said Singh, who retired as Deputy Superintendent of Police in 2019.

A case was lodged at the Shahganj police station against six persons, including Suraj Pal, his wife and four others (two of whom were women) under IPC Section 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment) and Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Agra, Suraj Kumar Rai, confirmed the arrests. The case was investigated and a chargesheet was filed, he said. Later, further investigation was conducted after new evidence emerged. “Based on the evidence collected during the further investigation, a closure report was filed in the case,” Rai said.

According to police records, the closure report was filed on December 2, 2000.