'Godman' Rampal's supporters open fire on police, cops use teargas shells

Barwala: The stand-off between the Haryana government and ‘godman’ Rampal’s supporters continued on Tuesday as Rampal’s supporters allegedly opened fire on policemen, according to reports. Reports indicate that hundreds of people have been detained by his ‘private army’ at his ashram in Barwala. [caption id=“attachment_1808353” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Security persons arrive at the Satlok Ashram for the arrest of Sant Rampal. PTI[/caption] Police lobbed teargas shells and used lathicharge to disperse his supporters who allegedly fired back. A number of people were injured in the violence at the Satlok Ashram in this town of Hisar district. As security personnel including police and para-military forces stepped up efforts to disperse the followers, said to be in thousands inside the Ashram, they faced stiff resistance. A senior police official said supporters of the ‘godman’ were firing from inside the ashram but police was exercising maximum possible restraint to minimise casualties. A portion of the outer wall of the ashram had been razed even as thick cloud of smoke was seen inside the premises. Police also said that stones were being hurled at them from inside the Ashram as several followers and Rampal’s ‘private army’ had pitched themselves on the rooftop of the premises. Authorities continued to face an uphill task in dispersing ‘godman’ Rampal’s followers from the Ashram in Barwala. Police said they were facing a hostile crowd, some of them armed, from inside, but they were using restraint to keep the casualities to the minimum. The stand-off of several days between the authorities and Rampal’s supporters took a violent turn as the Haryana government was racing against time to get hold of the ‘godman’ to meet the deadline of Friday set by Punjab and Haryana High Court for producing him in a contempt case. The 63-year-old ‘godman’ was to appear before the High Court yesterday but he did not do so, with his counsel saying he was “unwell” and could not travel from Barwala to Chandigarh, a distance of about 270 kms. He wanted more time for his production. The High Court then issued a fresh non-bailable warrant against him and asked the authorities to present him on Friday. Rampal has cited health reasons for not appearing before the High Court earlier on 5 November and 10 November. Some disciples who managed to come out from the ashram premises on Tuesday claimed that “thousands” of people were inside and most of them wanted to leave but were being prevented by lathi-wielding supporters of the ‘godman’ from leaving. A large number of women and children, are among those who are still inside the Satlok Ashram in Barwala, they claimed. A woman follower, aged around 40, who identified herself as Kusum from Uttar Pradesh, said she somehow managed to come out from inside the Ashram on Tuesday. “I forced my way out. There are scores of people still inside,” she said. Another middle-aged woman follower, who came out from the Ashram, said “I am from Dadri. There are so many people still inside and vast majority of them want to leave. But they are not being allowed to leave.” When asked who was putting pressure on them to stay back, a woman follower from Aligarh told reporters that, “I forced my way out. People are facing difficulty in getting food and water. But some men carrying lathis told us to stay back and tried to prevent us from leaving. They told us that the (court) decision will soon come and everything will be alright. We persisted that we wanted to leave and then we came out in a group.” A young male follower of Rampal from Haryana, said “I was forced to stay back. Some followers of the ‘Baba’ who are from other states asked us to stay inside…” He told reporters that Rampal should surrender before the court immediately and let the law take its own course. “Thousands of followers are still inside the Ashram and a vast majority wants to leave. But they are told that they will be given food here only. But now many people are not listening and are gradually coming out,” he said, adding ration supplies too are running low. He further said that ordinary followers like him had not seen Rampal all these days. “I cannot say for sure whether he is still inside the Ashram or not. We have not seen the Baba all these days. Nobody has seen him,” he said. Meanwhile, high drama was witnessed on Monday night when some followers of the controversial ‘godman’ threatened to immolate themselves in their bid to put pressure on police and civil administration not to go ahead with their action against Rampal. The Haryana police on Monday evening towed away several vehicles parked outside the ashram. Hisar SP Satender Kumar Gupta said the police and civil administration was assisting those followers who wish to go home. The authorities were treading with caution, wary of the possibility of a violent backlash by the followers, who were still present in large numbers inside the ashram and might be carrying lathis, sharp edged weapons and even crude bombs. There is an army of armed private commandos of the ‘godman’ inside the Ashram, officials said. Hisar District Magistrate ML Kaushik in an order on Monday asked all the followers, including women and children, to disperse immediately. Hisar district administration has said it would press into service buses to transport the followers to the bus stand and the railway station for their onward journey. (With inputs from PTI)