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.
According to reports published by Hindustan and India TV, Ayub Ali is from Aliganj in Etah, Uttar Pradesh. His father’s name is Shakir Ali, and he has no criminal record. Bhaskar Mishra, the in-charge of Maha Kumbh Mela’s Akhara Police Station, informed the media that Ayub Ali is from Etah and was interrogated by the SOT and STF.
For further details regarding the incident, we contacted Bhaskar Mishra, the in-charge of the Akhara Police Station at the Maha Kumbh Mela, who had taken Ayub Ali into custody. Speaking to us, he stated, “The investigation by the SOT and ATS police has revealed that Ayub Ali, who was detained at the Maha Kumbh Mela, is not a terrorist. He is from Aliganj in Etah, Uttar Pradesh. His father’s name is Shakir Ali. He has no criminal record, is a daily wage labourer, and was not disguised as a saint when he was apprehended.” He also mentioned that no case has been registered in connection with the incident.
Furthermore, upon closer inspection, the photo shared in the viral post appears to be AI-generated. To verify this, we used several AI content detection tools, such as Hive and wasitAI. The results from Hive indicated a 99.8% likelihood that the viral image was AI-generated, and wasitAI also confirmed that the photo was indeed AI-generated.
To sum up, the Uttar Pradesh Police stated that their investigation has revealed Ayub Ali, who was apprehended at the ongoing 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela, is not a terrorist and was not disguised as a saint at the time of his arrest.
(This story was first published by Factly and is being republished by ETV Bharat as part of Shakti Collective.)
