First of battle of Hisar: Godman Rampal's 'army' takes on police, CRPF

Over a 100 policemen were injured, nine of them taking bullets in various parts of their bodies, and one woman sustained 100% burn injuries when the private army of a self-styled godman of Barwala village in this district took on the might of Haryana police, CRPF and the RAF on Tuesday, waging war against the state.

The number of injured civilians, or even dead, was not known, nor revealed. Hundreds of women and children were used as a human shield to prevent the police from entering the complex.

Pitched battles were fought between the men in uniform, waging war against the state, with the followers of 'godman' Rampal, against whom the Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a non-bailable warrant, refusing to give up their spiritual guru even if their actions were anything but spiritual. They stood on rooftops of buildings in Rampal's sprawling 12-acre Satlok Ashram, and unleashed a barrage of stones on the police, who retaliated with teargas.

Scores of teargas canisters were lobbed into the ashram complex, wrapping the entire complex in smoke. But nothing seemed to deter Rampal's followers. They started firing at the police with country-made guns, forcing the police to return fire. Rampal's private army has stored a large number of guns and ammunition in the 'bhandara' of the ashram. They also had barrels and barrels of petrol with them, and one way, and these were there for a purpose. Petrol was thrown at the police, and then they were torched with burning "mashaals".

The media was caught in the middle and several media men became targets of the police. Some cameras were broken, and a few shins were given the lathi-treatment. Several media men were chased, and thrashed black and blue. Later, much later, Jawahar Yadav, OSD to chief minister Manoharlal Khattar, said action would be taken against those who targeted newsmen.

During all this, the whereabouts of Rampal was not known. Was he in the Satlok Ashram complex? Or, had he vamoosed in the dark of the night? Late in the evening, a spokesperson of the ashram, who
identified himself as 'Rahul', told media that Rampal had been removed to an undisclosed place several days ago because he was in need of urgent medical attention. Surprisingly, the administration has no clue as to when Rampal was whisked out of the ashram complex.

On Tuesday, the fortress-like Satlok Ashram looked as if it was under siege. The ashram is a tight group of several buildings with a high wall around it. At several points on the ramparts there are minarets
from where men of the private army of Rampal fired at the police force, and threw crude bombs. On Tuesday, scores of his followers lined up on the rampart-wall of the "fortress", armed with lathis,
some of them carrying the ashram insignia, challenging the police in a show of strength, and defiance.

At the end of the day, the battle fought outside the ashram complex did not serve its purpose. There was no Rampal inside the ashram. At some time in the evening, the police gained entrance to the complex,
but did find Rampal. Also, there is no idea how many followers of the 'godman' sustained injuries, or if any had died. There was an impression that another Operation Bluestar was being played out. The
administration's helplessness was evident every time a teargas shell erupted in smoke.