63-year-old Rampal, who had refused to appear before the High Court in a contempt case claiming he was unwell, was arrested last night from his Satlok Ashram after a two-week long stand off.
Many followers, who came out of the Ashram, told security personnel and the mediapersons that some private commandos of Rampal had been telling them for the past few days that if they venture out of the complex they will be harmed and arrested by the police.
“They created fear and used pressure tactics to hold us back.
They kept telling us that as soon as we venture out we will be arrested and put to harm,” Indu, a middle-aged woman follower from Madhya Pradesh, told reporters.
Like her, many other followers, holed up inside the Ashram for several days, had harrowing tales to narrate. “If you go out, police will shoot you, they think you are criminals,” a young follower from Uttar Pradesh, said, giving detail how coercive tactics were used to force them to stay back.
Hundreds of followers who had been inside the Ashram came from poor economic and educational background and even from far off places like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, a volunteer who had been providing food and water to those coming out, claimed.
