Rampal murder verdict today in Hisar: After the landmark verdict of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Monday, Haryana is set to witness the judgement of another self-proclaimed godman, Rampal Dass. Following Ram Rahim’s court verdict, his followers went berserk and Haryana and Punjab was racked by violence. Something very similar to this happened in November 2014 when Rampal, who had holed up in his Satlok Ashram in Barwala, which stretched across 12 acres, along with thousands of his followers fought the police and paramilitary forces outside the gates before he was finally arrested, Hindustan Times reports. 67-year-old engineer turned godman is accused of an 11-year-old case in which his followers had opened fire on villagers in Rohtak which killed one and injured several others.
The standoff between Rampal’s followers and the police forces continued for a week which resulted in the death of six people who acted like his human shields. Rampal was summoned to the court numerous times but failing to appear each time, police had procured a warrant to arrest Rampal. The standoff added more cases against his name and today the court is expected to deliver the verdict in the murder case.
During the standoff period, some 15,000 followers surrounded the Satlok Ashram and authorities had to resort to snapping food, water and power supply, according to NDTV. Rampal’s followers initially hurled stones at the police forces followed by acid and petrol bombs. over 200 people were injured during this period. Manohar Lal Khattar government was in power at that time too.