Religious head of 'Kabir Panth', Rampal Dass, awarded life imprisonment

Rampal Dass, who is the religious head of a sect called Kabir Panth and is popularly referred to by his followers as & lsquo Jagatguru Rampal Ji', has been sentenced to life imprisonment in relation with two murder cases. The self-styled godman has been charged with murder and wrongful confinement of four women and a child who were found dead in his 12 acres spread Satlok ashram on November 19, 2018, which is around three kilometers from Barwala town on Hisar-Tohana road, Hisar. One more case against him was registered when another woman was found dead in his ashram. Rampal had been arrested on being charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including murder, attempt to murder, conspiracy, holding illegal weapons and abetment to suicide. The police had seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, petrol bombs, chili grenades, acid syringes, and pregnancy test strips from the Satlok Ashram during their search operations at the ashram. The Satlok ashram was founded in 1991 in Karotha village of Rohtak district, Haryana. However, the ashram was subsequently attached by the district administration after the clashes between his followers and followers of the Arya Samaj in 2006 that killed one person and injured 59 others, after which Rampal moved to his another ashram near Barwala, Hisar.