October 11, 2018:

On Thursday, Self-styled 'godman' Rampal was convicted in both the Murder Cases by a court in Haryana's Hisar. Quantum of sentence to be pronounced on October 16 & 17.

Additional Sessions Court pronounced the verdict in connection with the Murder Cases dating back to 2014.

Rampal & his followers were booked on charges of Murder & wrongful confinement after 4 Women and a child were found dead at his Stalok Ashram in Hisar's Barwala town on November 19, 2014. His arrest followed violent clashes.

Another case was registered against Rampal and his followers after a woman was found dead in his Ashram on November 18. A total of 80 witnesses, including doctors who conducted the postmortems on the victims, deposed during the trial.

Hisar's administration was on its toes as the Local Court was scheduled to pronounce its verdict not risking a rerun of the 'Dera Sacha Sauda Case'.

Over 4,000 Police Personnel, besides the Rapid Action Force (RAF) & paramilitary troops, were deployed to maintain Law & Order situation in the District.

From previous one week, Police evicted Rampal’s supporters from other states, who gathered in the town. The police also increased the security at abandoned Satlok Ashram.

Twelve years ago Rampal criticised a few parts of Arya Samaj which led to 'violent clashes' between the two sections.

His followers started firing at the villagers in Rohtak, Haryana, killing one and injuring 59 others. Rampal was charged with Murder and was arrested in 2006 after the incident.

He was provided bail in 2008 but failed to appear before the Court in 2014. When police reached his Satlok Ashram, his supporters formed a protective ring around him to prevent police from arresting him.

This led to a two-week standoff between the Police & his over 15,000 followers. The Satlok Ashram followers had even declared that the Police will have to shoot down 100,000 of his followers.

He was acquitted by a Hisar Court in August, 2017, in 2 Cases related to rioting, unlawful assembly and use of force. Though he is still in Jail as he is facing several other charges, including murder.

Rampal’s name also figured in a list of  'Fake Babas' released recently by the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, a top body of Hindu prophets.

Parishad has earlier declared self-styled godmen including Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Radhey Maa, Nirmal Baba, Rampal, Asaram Bapu and his son Narayan Sai as 'fake babas' in the wake of controversies surrounding them.

Source:News 18

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