Old video from Rajasthan shared as visuals from Hathras stampede that killed 121

What’s the claim?

A video showing a motorcade passing through a large crowd has been shared online, claiming to depict the gathering at a spiritual event organized by preacher Narayan Sakar Hari (also known as Bhole Baba) in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, where 121 people were killed in a stampede on July 2, 2024.

An X (formerly Twitter) user shared the video with a caption in Hindi, which translates to: "#BreakingNews Commit #crime and become a Baba. More than 116 devotees who had come to attend the Satsang of Saint Bhole Baba in #Hathras, UP, lost their lives. After the initial investigation, the dark deeds of Saint Bhole Baba are revealed. Five other serious cases, including sexual exploitation, are registered against him." The user also shared an image of Hari with his wife.

DW News, a German news outlet, shared the same video on Threads with the caption: "A stampede at a spiritual gathering in northern India has killed more than 100 people and left scores injured, officials said, with many women and children among the dead." The video was also shared on YouTube; an archived version can be found here. We were able to find one iteration of the claim on YouTube using Logically Facts® Accelerate, a tool that enables proactive discovery of fact-check-worthy content on platforms. An archive can be found here.

Screenshot of the viral video shared on social media. (Source: X/Threads/Modified by Logically Facts)

Narayan Sakar Hari, known by various aliases including Suraj Pal, Sakaar Vishwa Hari, and Bhole Baba, is a self-proclaimed spiritual leader from Bahadur village in Etah district, Uttar Pradesh. According to an India Today report, Hari previously worked at the Intelligence Bureau before leaving to pursue spiritual preaching.

However, the video shared in the viral posts is actually from Rajasthan in February 2024, not from the spiritual gathering in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh.

What do we found

We observed that many X users pointed out that the video was from a satsang (spiritual gathering where Hindu hymns are sometimes chanted) held in Rajasthan, not Hathras.

A Google search led us to a longer version of the viral video, uploaded on February 9, 2024, to a YouTube channel named ‘Traveller Sachin’ (archived here). The video was captioned: "Mangal Divas Rupwas Bharatpur Rajasthan | Narayan Sakar Hari Ke Bhajan | Sataya Ka Sath Rajasthan."

The now-viral footage appears at the 6:59 timestamp. The channel features multiple videos of Hari's events held in Rupbas town on February 6, 2024. Another vlogger, Neeraj Kaim, also posted a video of Hari's satsang on his YouTube channel (archived here), claiming it was from Rupbas, Rajasthan. This evidence shows that the now-viral video has been online since before the stampede in Hathras and cannot be recent.

Screenshot of the original video posted on YouTube. (Source: YouTube)

Using cues from these YouTube videos, Logically Facts geolocated the visuals in the viral video to Rupbas, Rajasthan. We found that the event was held next to National Highway 123 near Rupbas town in Bharatpur district, Rajasthan. We identified the Rupbas bus stand and a yellow board indicating NH 123, which can be seen in both the YouTube videos and the now-viral video.

Comparison of the visuals and the location on Google Maps. (Source: YouTube/Google Maps)

Hathras stampede

On July 2, 2024, approximately 121 people were killed in a stampede at a spiritual gathering in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, organized by Hari. Around 10,000 people, mostly women, were in attendance. While an investigation has been launched, preliminary reports (archived here) suggest that the stampede occurred when the spiritual preacher called upon people to come to the stage for his blessings.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has formed a committee to investigate the cause of the stampede.

The verdict

A four-month-old video of a spiritual gathering organized by preacher Narayan Sakar Hari in Rajasthan has been shared with the false claim that it depicts visuals of his recent gathering in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, where 121 people were killed in a stampede.