Controversial guru Rampal's ashram at Hisar in Haryana after clashes on Tuesday
The police appeared to be closing in on controversial guru Rampal on Wednesday as they arrested his close aide Purushottam Das from his ashram in Haryana's Hisar, a day after thousands of followers used bombs, stones and gunfire to try and stop their leader's arrest in connection with a murder case.
The police said five bodies including that of an 18-month-old infant were found at the ashram. 63-year-old Rampal, an engineer-turned-guru, and his followers have been charged with sedition.
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The bodies of four women were handed over to the police, who said a post-mortem will establish how they died. The police say an 18-month-old infant died of congenital jaundice.
A fifth woman, a 20-year-old, reportedly had a heart condition and died in hospital.
Rampal, who has been using women and children as shields, is believed to inside the ashram with around 5,000 followers. The complex, spread over a 12-acre area in Barwala town, is built like a maze and has deadly traps within, the police said on Tuesday.
Ordered by a court to arrest Rampal by Friday, the police have repeatedly warned Rampal's followers to come out before they storm the ashram again today to find the guru.
Over 200 people including policemen were injured in Tuesday's violence. Among the injured were over 70 journalists, including the NDTV crew.
Some 10,000 people are believed to have left the ashram at night. Many of them said they had escaped; they had been invited to attend a discourse but were used as a human wall that included women and infants.
Those who left the ashram have told the police that there were deaths due to cold and lack of food and medicines. Water and electricity supply had been cut off to the complex earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the police used water cannons and teargas to try and disperse devotees before breaking into the fortified ashram. Armed devotees calling themselves 'Baba's Commandos' allegedly attacked the police with acid pouches, petrol bombs, sticks and stones.
In anticipation of more violence, there is heavy security in the town today. A unit of the paramilitary Rapid Action Force is on stand-by and security personnel are patrolling the roads on bikes and horseback.
Rampal, who was sacked as a junior engineer with the Haryana irrigation department, is out on bail in the 2006 killing of a villager in firing by his supporters. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered his arrest after he repeatedly failed to show up for questioning in the case. Rampal has skipped court 43 times in four years.
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