Hathras stampede: ‘Preacher’, wife were booked over claim to ‘resurrect’ dead teen girl in 2000, say police
The self-styled preacher, who hails from a Dalit family in Kasganj, served in the police force for nearly a decade before leaving the job.
After leaving the police force, he adopted the name, Bhole Baba, while his wife is known as Matashree, (Photo: X) 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.
A case was then registered 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 a abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and when no express provision is made for its punishment) and Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act.
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.
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