Hisar: Violence escalated in Hisar on Wednesday when several cars were set on fire near the self-styled godman Rampal's ashram. The local police is yet to identify the accused persons.
Police say unidentified miscreants put some vehicles on fire near Rampal's ashram. The incident took place around 5 PM on Wednesday. Police presence outside the ashram has been stepped up and the Centre is sending 500 paramilitary personnel to Haryana to deal with the law and order situation.
So far, six people have died in the violence and 425 people have been arrested while 15,000 have been taken out of the ashram.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday spoke to Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar and reviewed the situation in Hisar.
Central intelligence agencies had inputs of a possible law and order situation in Hisar and the same had been passed on to the Haryana government earlier in the day, said sources. It was also being said that the Central government was unhappy with the way the state government had handled the matter.
Meanwhile, Rampal's brother Purshottam Das has been taken into custody by the Haryana Police while he was trying to flee from the ashram. Rampal, however, is still in hiding. Though the police is claiming that they are sure that the self-styled godman is in the ashram itself.
Six people, five women and an 18-month-old child, have died so far in Rampal's ashram where clashes are being held between the self-styled godman's supporters and the Haryana Police. The police, however, have said no one has been injured in the police firing.
DGP Haryana Shrinivas Vashisht said there were no marks of injuries on the bodies of those who died and claimed that "not even a single person has been injured by police bullets in Hisar.
Post-mortem is being held to ascertain the cause of the deaths, he said.
Meanwhile, Rampal continues to defy court orders to surrender before the police in the contempt case against him. He is even being protected by his supporters who are ready to make a human shield to save him.
Speaking about the operation, the Haryana DGP said that more than 15,000 followers have left the ashram so far. He also claimed that the police has not yet entered the ashram and are putting in all efforts to evacuate the people who are volunteering to come out.
"Supporters are still leaving the ashram, we are hoping that soon all the supporters will go back. Around 5,000 followers are still inside the ashram," he said.
He said there was neither any proposal nor any possibility to have a dialogue with Rampal. "He must surrender before law," the DGP said. He also rubbished reports of any intelligence failure which could have led to the incident.
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