Baba wanted disciples in havens: Cops

MOGA: A day after a religious preacher killed his five disciples before ending his life at Kotla Mehar Singh Wala village, Moga police were still groping in the dark on the motive of the killings and preacher's past. The preacher, Harinderpal Singh and his disciples — Harpal Singh aka Soni, 25; Dharminder Singh, 18; Akashdeep Singh, 15; Rajpal Kaur, 28; and Sandeep Kaur, 20— were found dead in the house of Chamkaur Singh, another follower, on Thursday.
"It is almost clear that the baba killed the youths, but we are not sure about the reasons behind it. He might have influenced them, who had deep faith in him, to make a sacrifice for him," said a villager. Another villager Mohan Singh said, "We want the truth to come out, so that gruesome incidents never happen again."
Family members of Rajpal declined to talk about her death. Sandeep's father Chamkaur Singh said, "We have no idea behind the killings."
Moga senior superintendent of police Jatinder Singh Khaira said, "It is quite possible that Harinderpal might have thought of getting the services of his disciples even after death."
Harinderpal Singh allegedly killed the five by poisoning and slitting their throats, before swallowing celphos himself. Police had found a sharp-edged weapon from near the bodies. Police sources said the preacher used to visit a gurdwara in Jalandhar and Rajpal Kaur used to accompany him. Police are trying to trace that gurdwara. Villages were influenced by his alleged spiritual powers.
Sources said one of the theories doing the rounds suggests he might have hypnotized his young disciples and might have prepared them to accompany him after the death too.
Meanwhile, five youths were cremated on Friday evening at Kotla Mehar Singh Wala. Harinderpal Singh's body has been kept at civil hospital mortuary. police have decided to wait for 72 hours for claimants or his relatives to arrive for the autopsy and cremation of his body.
Kotla Mehar Singh Wala residents, though angry with the baba, were reluctant to say anything about him or the tragic incident.