Ruling out any talks with "godman" Rampal, authorities on Wednesday mounted pressure on him as sedition and other serious charges were slapped against him and several of his followers.
Haryana Director General of Police S N Vashisht said Rampal is still inside the ashram and asserted police will continue its "operation" untill he is arrested for production before Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday in a contempt case.
The vicinity of the ashram looked like a war-zone, a day after clashes between police and Rampal's supporters, who allegedly indulged in firing and throwing petrol bombs at security personnel.
About 15,000 followers of Rampal were holed up in the ashram, out of which 10,000 have been evacuated, Vashisht said. Many of those who left the ashram narrated how they were prevented from leaving by the "godman's private army".
"There is no possibility of negotiations... There is not even any plan… He is accused of serious crimes. My suggestion to him is he should surrender before the law," Vashisht said while addressing a press conference in Chandigarh.
Police had registered fresh cases on Tuesday against Rampal, ashram spokesman Raj Kapoor, another key functionary Purshottam Dass and several other followers under under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code. The cases have been filed under Sections 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the government of India), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), among others.
Dead bodies handed over to police
Bodies of four women were handed over to police by the staff of Rampal's ashram in Barwala in Hisar and two other sick persons, including an infant, who were taken to a hospital where they died, police said here on Wednesday.
The women whose bodies have been handed over were identified as Savita (31) of Delhi, Santosh (45) of Rohtak, Raj Bala (70) of Bijnore and Malikit Kaur (50) of Sangrur, Punjab.
The bodies have been shifted to the Medical College Hospital at Agroha and "Post mortem examination of the bodies will be conducted," said Haryana Director General of Police S N Vashisht, who was flanked by Additional Chief Secretary P K Mahapatra and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sanjeev Kaushal, said.
DGP made it clear there were no wounds on the bodies of the four women who had died and as of now police was also not certain at what time and under what circumstances they had passed away.
