Two days after Hathras stampede incident in Phulrai village during a 'satsang' (religious gathering) that killed 121 people, it has come to light that self-styled religious preacher Suraj Pal alias Sakar Hari Bhole Baba -- who faces several criminal cases -- lived a lavish lifestyle and was always surrounded by his own ‘private army’ at his ashram as well as during the religious events.
The Baba also has a personal 'Women Black Commando Brigade', whose members are deployed in the Women’s enclaves at his events. Several videos have gone viral on social media purportedly showing women, dressed in black, among the devotees at the Baba’s events.
Sources said that the Baba’s 'private army' wore dresses of different colours. These brigades had names like ‘Narayani Sena, Garud Yoddha’ and ‘Hari Vahak’.
While members of one of Baba’s ‘brigades’ are dressed in black, the members of the other ‘brigade’ are seen in light pink shirts and trousers and carry lathis and whistles. The members of another ‘brigade’ are dressed in brown.
Sources said that the private army of the Baba, which has thousands of members, are deployed everywhere in the events and they controlled the entry and the exit points.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also said during his visit to Hathras on Wednesday that the organisers did not allow any outsiders to enter the event and did their own crowd management.
‘’They (private army members) don’t allow anyone to record videos ... .On Tuesday also they rained lathis on those who tried to film the stampede,’’ said an eyewitness in Hathras.
‘’From crowd management to arranging for water, food and traffic, these private armies looked after everything during Baba’s events…..he is always surrounded by them and none can go near him without their permission,’’ he added.
The Baba, who served with the UP police before allegedly being sacked following the ‘sexual assault’ case, had also been booked a few years back after he claimed that he would infuse life into a dead child in Agra.
Sources said that Bhole Baba had served a prison term for some time and after his release from the jail, he changed his identity and became a 'kathavachak' (priest narrator).