Tantrik Rampal defies police, journalists covering crackdown attacked

Chandigarh/New Delhi: The Satlok Ashram of self-styled “godman” Rampal at Barwala in Haryana’s Hisar district on Tuesday virtually turned into a war zone as thousands of his supporters clashed with the police and fired on them even as cops tried to make their way into the heavily-fortified ashram to arrest the godman.

Several people were injured in the clashes; many mediapersons were injured and their equipment damaged when police baton-charged them.

The police has so far failed to produce the controversial godman in court over a contempt of court case. Rampal is on bail in another case over the killing of a man in firing from his ashram in Rohtak in 2006. Conflicting reports emerged on Tuesday on Rampal’s whereabouts, with some claiming he was still in the ashram.