Uttar Pradesh police have registered criminal cases against 101 social media accounts for reasons such as posting pictures of women bathing and changing clothes at the Kumbh, or falsely maligning the event.

“We have filed cases against several Instagram, Telegram and Facebook accounts for posting pictures of women bathing and changing. Some of these users tried to auction these pictures online,” a police officer in Allahabad said.

Rajesh Dwivedi, senior superintendent of police (SSP) in charge of the Kumbh Mela area, said the authorities had been monitoring social media accounts “to prevent misinformation about the Mahakumbh”.

“We have booked 101 social media accounts. We have filed cases against 26 for spreading rumours and misinformation about the Mahakumbh,” he said.

“Some of these accounts uploaded a video of an accident in Karak district of Pakistan, claiming it had happened at the Mahakumbh.”

Road accidents have, however, indeed killed scores of pilgrims — mostly those returning from the Kumbh — as this newspaper has reported. Opposition politicians as well as police officers have suggested that the lack of affordable accommodation for ordinary pilgrims in Allahabad and the Mela area would have left many of the drivers exhausted and sleepy, making accidents more likely.

Dwivedi said 75 accounts had been booked for posting “objectionable pictures” of women bathers.

He said the police had contacted the social media platforms and asked them to block all the 101 errant accounts and identify the users behind them so they could be prosecuted.

Uttar Pradesh director-general of police Prashant Kumar said: “We have been monitoring social media activities in general. Recently we realised that some people are spreading false rumours about the Mahakumbh with ulterior motives, or posting objectionable stuff.”

Pilgrims said there aren’t enough enclosures for women — or men — to change their clothes after taking the holy dip.

“So, after bathing in the open along the riverbanks, they are forced to change their wet clothes in front of hundreds. Nobody can know who is taking their pictures or making videos on their mobile phones,” Santosh Dwivedi, a pilgrim from Varanasi, said.

“There are makeshift toilets along the riverbanks but the doors of many are damaged. Some of the toilets are so dirty that you can’t even look towards them, let alone step inside them.”