Amid the ongoing 2025 Prayagraj Maha Kumbh Mela, a photo (here, here, here, here, and here) showing two policemen apprehending a person dressed like a sadhu is being widely shared across social media platforms with the claim that the police caught a terrorist named Ayub Khan disguised as a sadhu at the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
The archived version of this post can be found here.
Claim: The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested a terrorist named Ayub Khan, who was disguised as a sadhu during the ongoing 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela.
Fact: On 14 January 2025, at around 2 am, a man was found roaming suspiciously near the Yati Narsinghanand Giri camp at the Maha Kumbh Mela. Some of Yati Narsinghanand’s followers apprehended and questioned him. At the time, he claimed his name was Ayush. However, they grew suspicious of his behaviour and informed the police. During the police investigation, it was revealed that his real name was Ayub Ali. Speaking to FACTLY, Bhaskar Mishra, the in-charge of the Maha Kumbh Mela Akhara police station, who took Ayub Ali into custody, stated that investigations conducted by the police, SOT, and ATS confirmed that Ayub Ali is not a terrorist. Mishra also confirmed that Ayub Ali was not disguised as a sadhu when he was apprehended. The viral photo being shared alongside this claim is AI-generated. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we conducted a keyword search, which led us to several news reports stating that the police had apprehended a man named Ayub at the ongoing Kumbh Mela (here, here, here). According to these reports, on 14 January 2025, at around 2 am, a man was found roaming suspiciously near Yati Narsinghanand Giri’s camp at the Maha Kumbh Mela. Finding his behaviour suspicious, some of Yati Narsinghanand’s followers apprehended and questioned him. Initially, he claimed he had come to meet Yati Narsinghanand and identified himself as Ayush. However, they grew suspicious of his behaviour and alerted the police. During the police interrogation, it was revealed that his real name was Ayub and that he was a Muslim.