Hoardings with portraits of former police constable-turned-Hindu preacher Bhole Baba are kept at a workshop near his ashram in Bichhawan village of Mainpuri district, in Indias Uttar Pradesh state on July 4, 2024. - Former police constable-turned-preacher Bhole Baba built an immense following among poor and marginalised Indians before his latest sermon ended in a stampede that killed 121 of his followers.
The former police officer-turned-spiritual leader has not been seen in public since but local media reports suggested he had retreated to his nearby monastery, the doors of which have been chained shut by supporters inside, to bar public access. The lawyer said that “anti-social elements” in the crowd were responsible for the stampede and that Baba would participate in a police investigation into the disaster.Singh declined to confirm Baba’s exact location to AFP beyond saying he remained in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, home to his monastery in the city of Mainpuri and the nearby site of the stampede.
India is home to innumerable religious gurus or “godmen”, whose devotees beseech them for miracles and donate money and possessions as a token of loyalty. Authorities had only given permission for 80,000 people to attend the sermon, less than a third of the number that eventually turned up.Officials initially blamed a dust storm for sparking panic, while police later said the stampede began when “followers started to collect earth” from the ground where the preacher had passed.