Stampede At Satsang: Volunteers Urged People To Chant Baba’s Name Over Rescue Efforts, Leading To Tragic Deaths

In a tragic turn of events, police have revealed that volunteers at Baba Bhole's satsang in Fulrai Mugalgadi village failed to assist elderly women and children struggling for breath during a stampede on July 2. Instead, they urged them to chant "Narayan Sarkar Hari," assuring them that Baba would help.

As a result, many women died without receiving any help.

According to the initial police report, over 250,000 people, the majority of them women, attended the Bhole Baba Satsang. The chaos began as senior women, trying to move from the pandal towards the highway, found themselves struggling to breathe. The situation rapidly escalated into a stampede, trapping these women in the crowd. Cries for help were met with sevadars (volunteers) urging them to chant Baba’s name rather than offering assistance.

Eyewitnesses later admitted to hospitals corroborated these claims. "Many could have been saved had the sevadars helped," police reported based on their statements.

The satsang, held in the village on July 2, drew a massive crowd. Despite the event starting at noon, many women arrived as early as 7 AM, enduring the sweltering heat and humidity. As the event concluded, elderly women began experiencing breathing difficulties.

One such victim, Gomti from Jharkhand, who has high blood pressure and weak lungs, felt suffocated and pleaded with a sevadar for help. Instead, she was told to chant Baba’s name and eventually fainted. She was later rescued by women from her village.

Similarly, 60-year-old Brahmo Devi from Nai Basti, a diabetic, was dismissed by sevadars who told her sister-in-law that chanting Baba’s name would give her strength.

Multiple women testified that instead of providing immediate help, the sevadars insisted that chanting Baba’s name would resolve everything. Gomti, who attended the event with three other women from Jharkhand, informed the police that sevadars used sticks to control the crowd and refused to provide water to the distressed women, repeatedly telling them to chant Baba’s name for relief.

Six sevadars have been arrested. They admitted that the arrangements were insufficient for the massive turnout. Despite repeated announcements from the stage urging people to move slowly and in line, chaos ensued when Baba’s convoy passed, leading to a stampede.

Upon realising the casualties, the sevadars fled the scene. Locals recording the chaos on their mobile phones had their devices confiscated and thrown away by the sevadars, who claimed it was Baba’s strict order that no one except his designated team was allowed to make videos.

IG Police Shalabh Mathur said that the arrested sevadars admitted to fleeing the scene on foot, later catching a bus. Upon learning about the increasing death toll, they went into hiding.