Rampal cronies go underground, shut ashram in MP
After his arrest from Satlok Ashram in Haryana, work at the under-construction ashram at Betul district has stopped. Rampal's men have removed the board that had names and telephone numbers of the ashram's caretakers.
With their godman's name tainted, Rampal's cronies in Madhya Pradesh are busy bringing the nameplate down. After his arrest from Satlok Ashram in Haryana, work at the under-construction ashram at Betul district has stopped. Rampal's men have removed the board that had names and telephone numbers of the ashram's caretakers.
The Betul ashram is in Urdan village, along the National Highway 69, around nine kilometre from the district headquarters. When MAIL TODAY visited the site recently, it found all construction works have come to a screeching halt. Spread across 70 acres, the ashram wore a deserted look. We tried to contact the ashram's caretakers, but our effort proved futile.
Moving past the iron gate at the entrance, we found a huge hall inside that can easily accommodate around 50,000 people. Sources told MAIL TODAY the hall was meant for congregations where the godman could deliver sermons. The ashram was slated for inauguration on January 25, 2015, on the day of Sankranti, but Rampal's arrest scuttled that plan. Sources told us Betul's additional superintendent of police Geetesh Garg has already informed his Haryana counterparts about the ashram.
Local residents said land for the ashram was purchased by Rampal's brother Balbir and construction work had begun almost a year back. However, the moment Rampal was arrested in Haryana, his men in Betul went underground. They have not been seen anywhere near the ashram since then.
While Rampal's men have gone into hiding, controversies are not new for babas and their ashrams in this part of the country. Asaram Bapu's Gurukul Ashram is located in Chhindwara district in the state. A 16-year-old girl had alleged that she was sexually assaulted at the godman's Jodhpur ashram. The allegation led to Asaram's arrest eventually. But earlier, in July 2009, at this Chhindwara ashram, two children were found dead. However, Asaram escaped the glare of law at that point.
Yet another baba, Swami Vikasanand (alias Vikas Joshi), has been rather influential in the Mahakoshal region of Madya Pradesh. However, in 2006, he was arrested from a hotel in Jabalpur with three women, including a teenager. Around 60 CDs containing sleazy content was seized from his possession. His female followers did not depose against him. But in 2010, Swami Vikasanand was convicted by a Jabalpur court and is now in jail.
Mahendra Giri alias Tunnu Baba, was arrested on charges of raping a 24-year-old woman inside his ashram in Neelkanth village in Sehore district of the state in 2013.
Rampal's expansionist plans: Before his arrest on November 19, the self styled godman Rampal had embarked on an ambitious expansion plan. "Though, Rampal has few followers in the state, there are indications that the godman was investing around Rs. 50 crore in the project," said a source in the district headquarter who went through the land deal papers of the Betul Ashram.
Another reason for setting up an ashram in Betul was the district's closeness to Nagpur, which is around 160 kms from the village, he added.
With the growing popularity of his sect and with the number of followers swelling in other parts of the country, Balbir and key aides decided to set up an ashram that is centrally located and would be able to accommodate more people.
The ashram in Betul is five times the size of the Satlok one and can accommodate over a lakh people.