A framed photo of 'godman' Ashutosh Maharaj at the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan on the outskirts of Jalandhar.
In more worry for the Punjab Police, a congregation has been announced by a dera or ashram that has refused to cremate its guru for the last 11 months. The guru's followers are angry at a High Court order that his body, which has been in a freezer since January, must be cremated within 15 days.
The followers of Ashutosh Maharaj have announced a massive gathering at the ashram near Jalandhar on December 14, one day before the High Court deadline ends. They insist that Maharaj is not dead but is in "samadhi" or deep meditation.
The police, who have doubled deployment at the ashram, said they are negotiating with the dera management to not allow crowds to gather there.
On January 29 this year, doctors pronounced Ashutosh Maharaj "clinically dead." His followers have since then not allowed anyone to inspect the body, which is kept in the freezer at the ashram in Nurmahal near Jalandhar. A dera spokesperson said they would appeal against the High Court's order to cremate the body.
"We have decided to appeal against the High Court order to a double bench...we believe our guru is in deep meditation," he said.
The police report a significant increase in the number of people visiting the ashram. "About 3000 followers visit the ashram daily...some 500-700 are present during the night," a senior policeman said. He also said that there are seven or eight licensed weapons inside the ashram.
The state police says it wants to avoid a situation like the two-week stand-off at an ashram in neighbouring Haryana, where the self-styled godman Rampal had sequestered himself along with weapons, a private army and many followers to evade arrest.
Rampal's followers had clashed with the police, which had to storm the 12-acre ashram to arrest the controversial guru. Five women and an infant died during the stand-off.
Ashutosh Maharaj headed the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan sect, which allegedly has property and assets running into hundreds of crores. A man who claims to be his son, had moved court seeking custody of his body to perform last rites.