Rohtak village tense,kin refuse to cremate dead

Police said they had registered a murder case against Satlok Ashram chief Sant Rampal and his supporters alleging that the bullet shells recovered from the spot of the violence did not belong to the police. District police spokesperson Ved Singh said police suspected the religious leader’s supporters may have mixed with the crowd and fired at the protesters.

Trouble erupted in the area Sunday morning when police tried to stop villagers,most of them supporters of the Arya Samaj,from marching towards Satlok Ashram.

The mob torched three Haryana roadways buses,several police motorbikes,an ambulance,shops and tankers on the Rohtak-Jhajjar highway. The clash worsened after the mob began hurling stones and police had to cane them. More than 60 police personnel,including 32 women,and dozens of protesters sustained injuries including some from gunshots.

The villagers said they were unarmed and accused the police and Rampal’s followers of opening fire. But the police said the villagers opened fire first and that a case had been registered against them.

As the situation remained tense on Monday,there was heavy police deployment in the area with five companies of the CRPF and three companies of the BSF brought in to manage the situation. However,more than 1,000 protesters from 12 villages in the district camped on the highway with lathis in their hands demanding Rampal’s eviction.

The protesters were joined by Baba Ramdev,who is known to be close to Arya Samaj leader Acharya Baldev who is spearheading the protests. “The sacrifice of three persons who died in the clash between Arya Samaj followers and Haryana police will not go waste. The ashram will have to be vacated,” Ramdev told reporters.

Residents of Karontha ,who are followers of Baldev,allege that Rampal calls himself their god and disrespects religious texts such as the Vedas. They also allege that Rampal is involved in illegal activities,possessed arms and ammunition and forces his religious beliefs on them.

Rampal was arrested in 2006 in an alleged case of rape,murder and rioting and his ashram was shut down.

Rampal got bail in 2008 and in February this year,the Supreme Court ordered status quo saying the ashram would stay in its current location.

A spokesman for Rampal denied all allegations. “Sant Rampal is a learned man who has read all religions and treats all as equal. He never forced anyone to follow any religion and never defamed any religious text. These villagers are angry as the court ordered a status quo over the ashram,which is why this happened. We are very sorry for the deaths,” he said.

— With inputs from Varinder Bhatia,Chandigarh