NEW DELHI, November 18 (Sputnik) – India's Home Ministry is closely monitoring the situation in the country's north after clashes erupted as police attempted to arrest a controversial sect leader, a senior figure in the Home Ministry told Sputnik news agency Tuesday.
Rampal, who calls himself a "godman," is a sect leader who claims to be an incarnation of the 15th century Indian poet and saint Kabir.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused Rampal of involvement in several crimes, including a 2006 murder case, when his supporters allegedly fired at villagers in the northern Indian state of Harayama, killing one of them.
The clashes erupted outside Rampal's ashram, when police arrived to arrest him. The supporters of the self-declared godman started firing and lobbing petrol bombs from inside the ashram where Rampal was supposedly hiding, according to the police.
The police used tear gas and bamboo sticks to disperse supporters of the sect's leader. Law enforcement personnel also attacked several reporters covering the event, breaking their cameras.
The Press Club of India also condemned the brutal attack on journalists.
The club's secretary general Nadeem Kazami told Sputnik that it wanted "an impartial inquiry into the whole incident of police brutality."
"Godman" Rampal was to appear before the Chandigarh High Court on Monday, but did not appear at the trial, citing health problems. The court therefore issued a nonbailable arrest warrant for Rampal to be brought to court on Friday.
