Haryana police has evacuated and rescued 15,000 supporters of 'godman' Baba Rampal from the Satlok ashram and arrested 425 people .
According to Inspector General Anil Kumar, Rampal is still within the ashram campus and the police is in negotiation with him.
Situation in and around the ashram in Hisar has been calm since morning after Tuesday’s violent clashes. Haryana police had begun flushing out self styled Godman Baba Rampal’s supporters from the ashram on Wednesday morning before they arrested him.
“We expect at least 7000 to 8000 people to be still inside. Negotiations are on to carry out operations in a peaceful manner,” police officers told dna. They have evacuated over 3000 persons from the ashram so far. The police believes, that the people evacuated were held hostage by the hardcore Rampal supporters.
Over 100 buses by Haryana Roadways were kept on a standby to remove people from the ashram location.
Over 3000-4000 locals have gathered around the ashram and are helping out police personnel as well as large contingents of media with food and water. “Local residents are well aware of his activities and want him to be out of here,” police said.
Also read: Self-styled 'godman' Rampal slapped with sedition charge; six dead in Rampal's ashram in Hisar
The police want to ensure innocent people are not caught in the crossfire and hence an effort is going on to evacuate as many people in a peaceful manner as possible, sources said.
Officers believe that the ashram is infested with over 1000 fighters who are armed with acid bulbs, pistols and guns and also insist that most of them are from Jharkhand and Orissa, states where Rampal wields tremendous influence. Police also claimed this could be one of the biggest dens of Naxals. They also recalled how AK-47s were recovered from here in 2006 and hence do not want to take any chances.
The police have also claimed that women were denuded in order to use them as a shield and prevent them from running away. As many as 35 women were rescued by the police in the darkness of the night.
“These walls are 24 inch thick and can’t be razed even using bulldozers. This place is fortified to withstand forcible entry by anyone including state agencies,” sources told dna.
An attempt to arrest Rampal on Tuesday had resulted in violent clashes between police personnel and his supporters.
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