Rampal behind bars after bail is cancelled

Controversial sect leader Rampal was Thursday put behind the bars after the Punjab and Haryana High Court cancelled the bail granted to him in a 2006 murder case.

Rampal was taken from the Sector 6 General Hospital, where he was admitted early in the day, to the Sector 5 police station at Panchkula, adjoining Chandigarh.

He was put inside a police lock up. Several security personnel in riot gear stood guard outside.

Before being taken to the police station, Rampal claimed that he was an innocent man.

"I am innocent. All the charges against me are baseless," he told journalists.

Disappointment writ large on his face, Rampal stood in the lock up holding the iron bars, occasionally looking down.

He will be produced before the high court at 2 p.m. Thursday.

A division bench of the high court earlier cancelled the bail granted to the self-styled godman in April 2008.

Amicus Curie Anupam Gupta, who is assisting the court in the case, said the court cancelled his earlier bail and allowed Haryana Police to present him before the court Thursday afternoon.

Haryana's Advocate General B.R. Mahajan told the court that Rampal had been arrested and sought permission to advance his hearing in a contempt of court case slapped against the sect leader.

The court issued fresh non-bailable warrants against Rampal Nov 17 and directed that he be produced by Friday.

Rampal, who remained elusive on health grounds, was finally arrested Wednesday night from his Satlok Ashram near Barwala town in Haryana, about 210 km from here.