On 28 January 2025, at 1:30 AM, a stampede occurred during the ongoing 2025 Prayagraj Maha Kumbh, resulting in several deaths and injuries. Amidst this, a video circulating on social media (here, here, and here) shows two individuals sitting in a police vehicle in a distressed state, with burn marks on their faces and bodies. In the video, a reporter asks them why they did this and what they want, to which they respond that garbage will not be burnt there. The video is being shared with claims that people are being arrested for refusing to burn garbage containing piles of dead bodies after the Maha Kumbh stampede. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: The video shows two individuals arrested by the UP Police for refusing to burn garbage containing dead bodies after the Maha Kumbh stampede.
Fact: The viral video shows two individuals, Rajkumar Raghuvanshi and Raj Patel, from Pithampur, Indore. They set themselves on fire on 03 January 2025 as part of a protest against the disposal of toxic waste from the 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, which had been transported to the Ramky Company in Pithampur. This incident occurred many days before the Prayagraj Maha Kumbh, which began on 13 January 2025 and has no connection to Uttar Pradesh. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon closely examining the viral video, we found “Madhya Pradesh Police (म.प्र.पु)” written on the police uniform, confirming that the video is not from Uttar Pradesh.
Taking a cue from this, we conducted a Google search using Hindi keywords, which led us to an archived Instagram post (archived) by journalist Harikesh Dwivedi. He posted the video on 03 January 2025, many days before the Prayagraj Maha Kumbh began. The caption stated that Pithampur’s Rajkumar Raghuvanshi and Raj Patel set themselves on fire by pouring petrol on themselves as part of an ongoing protest against Union Carbide’s waste.
We found another video (archived) of the same protest posted by Harikesh Dwivedi on his Facebook page HKD World on 03 January 2025. It shows two people sprinkling petrol on themselves, and trying to immolate themselves. The caption states that Pithampur’s Rajkumar Raghuvanshi and Raj Patel set themselves on fire while protesting against Union Carbide, with the protest ongoing for eight hours.
Taking a cue from this, we used relevant keywords and found a news report on the ABP Live YouTube channel, published on 04 January 2025. The report features footage of two individuals being arrested, matching the visuals seen in the viral video. The video’s description revealed that controversy has intensified over the disposal of toxic waste from Bhopal’s Union Carbide factory in Pithampur, near Indore. Locals began a sit-in protest against burning the waste, and the agitation escalated to the point where two individuals sustained burns while attempting self-immolation.
On the night of 02-03 December 1984, a hazardous leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas occurred at the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, claiming the lives of over five thousand individuals. On 03 December 2024, the Madhya Pradesh High Court expressed dissatisfaction with the delay in vacating the factory premises and imposed a four-week deadline for the removal of the toxic waste. In early January 2025, 337 metric tonnes of waste from the Union Carbide factory were transported to the Ramky Company in Pithampur, near Indore, for disposal. This action sparked significant political and social unrest, leading to widespread protests on 03 January 2025. The matter subsequently reached the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case.
To sum up, an unrelated video from Madhya Pradesh is falsely shared as U.P. Police arresting individuals for refusing to burn garbage mixed with dead bodies after the Maha Kumbh stampede.
