'Would have been killed if had not fled from Ramlila ground'

Hardoi (UP), Oct 1: Yoga guru Ramdev has said that if he had not fled from the Ramlila ground in Delhi during the police crackdown in the wee hours on June 5, he too would have met the same fate as Rajbala.

In reply to a question from one of his followers here last night, Ramdev claimed he would have been killed had he not fled from the Ramlila maidan.

"I would not have been here among you had I not fled that day," he said. Ramdev is currently undertaking a ''Swabhiman Yatra'' and is touring various districts of Uttar Pradesh.

The yoga guru was agitating against corruption with thousands of his followers at the Ramlila ground in June when police had allegedly lathicharged on the gathering. A 51-year-old woman, Rajbala, was seriously injured and succumbed in a Delhi hospital earlier this month.

Meanwhile, state unit president of Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav visited Ramdev at the house of one of his followers here late last night.

Yadav is undertaking a ''Kranti Rath Yatra'' and was in neighbouring Shahjahanpur district from where he made an unscheduled visit to Ramdev.

Ramdev and Yadav held talks for about 15 minutes, sources said.

PTI