Bullet-proof vehicle found in Rampal's ashram, search on

Chandigarh:  The police on Sunday found a bullet-proof vehicle inside the highly-fortified Satlok Ashram from where controversial guru Rampal was arrested.

The recovery was made a day after a huge cache of arms and ammunition, petrol bombs, acid syringes and a pregnancy test strip were found from the ashram in Barwala town of Hisar district in Haryana.

The details emerged as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Haryana police continued with its search of the ashram.

A bus, a Maruti Gypsy, an oil tanker and two tractors along with trollies are among the other recoveries made today, police said.

During the search, three followers who were still inside the building were also found. They were identified as Laxman Dass and Mahesh Kumar of Madhya Pradesh, and Ajay Dass of Bihar.

The team had earlier also recovered three .32 bore revolvers, 19 air guns, two DBBL 12 bore, two .315 bore rifles, 28 cartridges of .32 bore, 50 cartridges of 12 bore and 25 cartridges of .315 bore.

On Friday, the search also revealed a private swimming pool, state-of-the-art elevators and 24 air conditioned rooms. The rooms, which could be compared to a luxury hotel or a farm house, had attached bathrooms fitted with top-of-the line fixtures. While one of the rooms had a massage bed, the other had a treadmill.

The police also found a woman lying unconscious and locked in a bathroom. She was admitted to general hospital. She has been identified as Bijlesh, a resident of Ashok Nagar village in Madhya Pradesh.

Rampal, the 63-year-old junior-engineer-turned-preacher, was arrested from his Ashram on Wednesday, after Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a non-bailable warrant against him in a contempt case.

The sprawling complex was found to be under CCTV surveillance to keep a tab on the movements of devotees.

The police said that the search operation will continue for a few days more as the ashram area is vast.