Chandigarh:  The sister of controversial ‘godman' Rampal and four others, including two women, have been arrested in Hisar in connection with the standoff between the preacher's followers and the police last month during which five women and a child had died, police said today.  

Rampal's sister Rajkala and her two companions Savitri and Poonam were arrested on Saturday when they came to meet the godman, who is in judicial lock-up in Hisar, Barwala Station House Officer Anil Kumar told PTI over the phone.  The three women were produced before a court which has sent them to judicial custody. The other two - Ramphal and Deshraj - were arrested yesterday after they were found roaming around the jail premises, he added.

Kumar said the names of those arrested figured in the FIRs registered against Rampal. The charges against them include unlawful assembly and sedition.  “Evidences with police have established that Rajkala had confined women and children in ashram at the instance of Rampal to foil the police operation at Barwala,” the SHO said.  “Also, some weapons seized from the ashram were in the name of Deshraj,” he added.

63-year-old Rampal was arrested on November 19 after a two-week tense standoff between his supporters and the police after close to 15,000 of his followers were evacuated from the sprawling premises.