More arms and ammunition recovered from Rampal's ashram

Barwala (Har), Nov 23: As part of the ongoing search of arrested godman Rampal's Satlok Ashram, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Haryana Police on Monday recovered more arms and ammunition from the premises.

During the search, the SIT recovered 7.62 mm caliber pistol, three empty magazine, .32 bore revolver and 13 live cartridges of the weapon, police said.

Besides, police also recovered five "petrol bombs", five buckets of inflammable material, over 5,000 'lathis', 52 helmets, acid bottles, 150 black-coloured com

mando dresses, 38 black cloth wrapped around the head by the commandos, over 1,000 small marbles and 50 mobile phones, they said. The weapons were recovered from the almirah of a room, which fell right below where Rampal used to sit and address his followers.

The SIT has been conducting intensive search of the sprawling 12 acre ashram after Rampal's arrest. Yesterday, cash, weapons, bullet-proof jackets and commando dresses were among other articles found from the premises as Rampal had for the first time been taken by the police to the ashram ever since his arrest on November 19.

63-year-old Rampal, during his hour-long stay at the 12-acre complex yesterday, was questioned by the SIT of Haryana Police on the recoveries, including arms and ammunition, that have been made, police said.

Rampal was arrested on November 19 from his ashram, where a thorough search has been going on for the last five days. He was produced before the Punjab and Haryana High Court a day after his arrest in a contempt of court case and later remanded in police custody for five days by a court in Hisar after fresh cases were slapped on him.

Police today said the search operation will go on for a few more days as the ashram was spread over a vast area. So far, around 900 followers of Rampal have been arrested for various charges.

During the standoff between Rampal's followers and the police, five women and an infant had died, while more than 200 people were injured in the clashes on Tuesday.

Earlier, a cache of arms and ammunition, petrol bombs and acid syringes were found from the highly fortified complex, which was under constant surveillance of CCTV cameras installed at several key points to keep tabs on the movements of followers, who largely came from low-income strata.

PTI