M A I N   N E W S

At hospitals, warring sides pin blame on each other
Sunit Dhawan/Sushil Manav/Parvesh Sharma
Tribune News Service

Rampal supporters ‘very motivated’ Agroha (Hisar): Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Muhammad Akil has asked the Maharaja Agarsen Medical College and Hospital authorities at Agroha to segregate the injured policemen and Rampal’s private “commandos”. Akil, who visited the hospital, asked Chief Medical Officer (causality) Dr Rajiv Chauhan to keep them in separate wards to avoid any untoward incident. “They (Rampal’s supporters) are very motivated and can go to any extent,” he said.

Hisar/Agroha/Jind, November 18
As injured ashram followers and policemen were wheeled into various hospitals in Hisar district, they blamed each other for the violent clash. The Hisar Civil Hospital authorities had set aside 150 beds to accommodate the injured. Similar arrangements were made at Barwala, Agroha, Hansi, Uklana and Tohana hospitals. Hospitals in Jind, located 56 km from the Barwala ashram, were also kept on standby.

While injured policemen and a JCB driver, who were brought to the Hisar Civil Hospital, claimed they were attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails, ashram followers maintained the police resorted to unprovoked cane-charge.

JCB machine driver Ansar Ahmed said he, accompanied by a policeman, was demolishing the ashram wall when a glass bottle containing some fluid hit his machine, setting it on fire. He suffered burns in the incident.

Jitender, a policeman with a fractured wrist, said: “I was asking some women followers to vacate the premises when some ashram security personnel rushed towards me and one of them dressed in black attacked me with a hammer.”

Ashram follower Priyanka (14) from Muraina district in Madhya Pradesh, however, differed with the police version. She claimed she was sitting in front of the ashram when the police resorted to lathi-charge. “Amid the chaos, I was hit on the head. I don’t know whether it was a stone or a baton,” she said, adding she had no clue about the whereabouts of her relatives accompanying her. Sulekha (18) from Chhattisgarh said she was hit by a teargas shell in the leg. She was accompanied by her mother Lalita.

The first ambulance arrived at Agroha’s Maharaja Agarsen Medical College and Hospital around 12.30 pm with five injured followers. By 5 pm, 67 persons — eight policemen, eight women and a mediaperson — had been taken in.

Sushma (50) from Kurukshetra said: “We were sitting outside the ashram when the police charged at us hurling tear-gas shells and assaulting women and children. We were caught unawares.”

Ashram’s private security guard Joginder (42), who belongs to Bahalgarh in Sonipat, suffered fractures in both legs. “The police beat us up without provocation. Our Guruji had instructed us not to resort to violence, so I stood with folded hands when a police team approached us. We were beaten up and dragged through the fields before being bundled up in vehicles,” he claimed.

Similarly, Surinder (40) from Hamirpur and Vijay Dass (25) from Nepal, who were also part of ashram’s security and suffered multiple injuries, accused the police of assaulting them without provocation.

Sumit Kaler, a video journalist who suffered a fractured arm, said: “I was covering the clash near the ashram when a police team attacked us. They snatched my camera and damaged it. I ran to safety and was brought here by my colleague.”

Rampal’s supporter Anita (18) alleged the police did not even spare women and children. She denied suggestions that women and children were being forcibly kept in the ashram.

Ravinder Singh, SHO of Bond police station in Bhiwani, was admitted to the hospital with splinter injuries in the neck. Another policeman, Krishan Kumar, was brought in with injuries to the head and face.

Jind Civil Surgeon Dr Ravinder Punia held an emergency meeting and formed a special team of local doctors to treat the injured. “While no casualties were received till evening, hospitals in Jind city and Narwana were ready to provide treatment,” he said.

Haryana Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Mohammed Akil and Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Mittal later visited the injured at the Civil Hospital.

Dr Dayanand, Principal Medical Officer (PMO), Civil Hospital, said at least 54 policemen and 12 ashram followers were admitted to the hospital. The patients admitted to the hospital were stated to be stable and out of danger. “Though there are no cases of serious/critical nature, specialist doctors are taking care of the patients,” said Dr Dayanand.

At least 69 persons, including eight policemen, were receiving treatment at the Agroha hospital.

DAY OF HIgh DRAMA Security personnel take away a Rampal supporter during a clash in Hisar on Tuesday. afp Attack on journalists: Rights panel seeks report The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued notice to the Haryana Police over alleged police assault on journalists outside Satlok Ashram in Hisar. The commission has sought a report from the state Director General of Police within two weeks. — PTI HC reserves verdict on cancelling bail The Punjab and Haryana HC on Tuesday reserved its verdict on cancelling bail granted to Rampal in a murder case. As the case came up for hearing before a Division Bench, Haryana along with the amicus curiae sought cancellation of bail on the ground of interference in the administration of justice. Followers ‘being held hostage’ at ashram “All followers want to leave Satlok Ashram, but some armed persons have been keeping them inside. Who would want to stay without food and water for several days? The condition of children is worsening for want of proper food,” alleged TB patient Rajmal (45), who succeeded in fleeing the ashram along with his son Gholu (12) on Tuesday. He left the ashram on the pretext that he had run out of medicines. He reached the Jind railway station in the evening. Rajmal claimed armed commandos had held hostage thousands of followers. "Like me, thousands of others want to leave the ashram, but they are being forcibly kept there to use them as a shield during the clash with the police," he alleged.