Life Sentence to Self-Styled Godman Rampal, 14 Others

Chandigarh: A court in Haryana's Hisar town on Tuesday awarded life sentence to self-styled godman Rampal along with 14 others for the murder of six people. He has been in prison since November 2014. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge D.R. Chalia, who convicted them on October 11, awarded the life sentence to them. They were also slapped with a fine of Rs 1 lakh each.

This court will pronounce the quantum of punishment for Rampal in a second murder case on Wednesday for which he has already been convicted. The two murder cases against him relate to the murder of six people during violent clashes between his supporters and Haryana Police at his Satlok Ashram near Barwala town in Hisar district, around 245 km from the state capital. Rampal was facing other cases of murder conspiracy, sedition and rioting. He and his close aides, including his private army, had resisted the police action to arrest him on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court while holed up inside his Satlok Ashram in November 2014. (IANS)