Regional
Tension in Haryana town as police readies to arrest sect leader
Chandigarh: Tension prevailed in Haryana’s in Hisar district Saturday as thousands of followers of sect leader Rampal geared up to thwart any attempt by the police to arrest him.
Additional police personnel were brought in Saturday as police readied itself to forcibly arrest the sect leader from the Satlok Ashram complex near Barwala town, 240 km from here.
Over one lakh followers have been camping outside the Ashram for over a fortnight after the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued non-bailable warrants against the sect leader earlier this month.
Rampal has been directed to appear before the court Nov 17. Police have execute the warrants before that date.
While Rampal, through his counsel, has claimed that he is medically unfit, his followers have said that they will not allow his arrest under any circumstances.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Saturday appealed to Rampal “to present himself in the court in a peaceful manner and without any hindrance”.
The chief minister told media that everyone had to uphold dignity of the judicial system.
Khattar appealed to Rampal’s followers to cooperate in following the directions of the court.
The high court, while severely criticising police and the Haryana government last week, ordered that Rampal be produced in court Nov 17.
Police failed to produce him before the high court despite the court issuing non-bailable warrants against him Nov 5.
This was the third time that Rampal skipped appearing before the high court despite contempt proceedings against him. He failed to appear before court Nov 5 also, citing medical reasons.
The followers, some of them carrying weapons and others armed with sticks, have blocked the way to the ashram complex to prevent police and officials from arresting Rampal and taking him away.
Those blocking police entry into the ashram include hundreds of women, men and children. Volunteers of the sect have even set up a ‘commando protection force’ to prevent the police from entering the ashram and arresting their sect leader.
The controversial sect leader’s followers had indulged in vandalism in a court in Haryana’s Hisar town in July this year when he was going there for an appearance in a 2006 murder conspiracy case.
The high court took suo moto notice of the Hisar incident and summoned the sect leader to appear before it.
Home
What monkey fled with a bag containing evidence in it: Read full story
The court, generally, considers a person who commit a crime and the one who destroys the evidence, as criminals in the eyes of law. But what if an animal destroys the evidence of a crime committed by a human.
In a peculiar incident in Rajasthan, a monkey fled away with the evidence collected by the police in a murder case. The stolen evidence included the murder weapon (a blood-stained knife).
The incident came to light when the police appeared before the court and they had to provide the evidence in the hearing.
The hearing was about the crime which took place in September 2016, in which a person named Shashikant Sharma died at a primary health center under Chandwaji police station. After the body was found, the deceased’s relatives blocked the Jaipur-Delhi highway, demanding an inquiry into the matter.
Following the investigation, the police had arrested Rahul Kandera and Mohanlal Kandera, residents of Chandwaji in relation to the murder. But, when the time came to produce the evidence related to the case, it was found that the police had no evidence with them because a monkey had stolen it from them.
In the court, the police said that the knife, which was the primary evidence, was also taken by the monkey. The cops informed that the evidence of the case was kept in a bag, which was being taken to the court.
The evidence bag contained the knife and 15 other important evidences. However, due to the lack of space in the malkhana, a bag full of evidence was kept under a tree, which led to the incident.