Police arrest Indian guru ending standoff

Indian police arrested religious leader Satguru Rampalji Maharaj at his sprawling ashram in the northern part of the country late Wednesday, ending a days-long standoff in which six people died and hundreds were injured.

No violence or confrontation took place between supporters of Maharaj, who is wanted for questioning in a 2006 murder case but has repeatedly ignored orders to appear in court, and the police at the time of his arrest, a Haryana state government spokesman Jawahar Yadav told reporters. 

Riot police tried to storm the ashram in Haryana state on Tuesday, but Maharaj's followers, some of them using guns, rocks and batons, fought them off, authorities said. 

About 200 people were injured, including security forces. On Wednesday, the guru's followers handed over to police the bodies of four women who apparently died inside the 12-acre complex, about 110 miles northwest of New Delhi. 

Earlier in the day, a woman and an 18-month-old child died in a hospital after leaving the ashram. The circumstances of the deaths were not clear and autopsies were being conducted. 

Authorities earlier tried to flush out Maharaj by cutting off electricity and water to the compound. Thousands of people began streaming out of the ashram Wednesday, and many said armed followers of the guru had prevented them from leaving earlier.

Nearly 15,000 of his supporters were evacuated from the ashram before he was taken into custody and more than 400 people were arrested after Tuesday's violence, officials said. 

Gurus and Hindu holy men are immensely popular in India, with millions of followers. People often consult gurus before making important personal decisions. But the power wielded by the self-styled holy men has led to scandals in which they have been accused of exploiting devotees.

Since 2010, Maharaj, a former engineer, has ignored 43 court summonses, seeking exemptions each time. The court set a final deadline for him to appear in court on Monday, which he ignored. His supporters said he was too ill to make the 155-mile journey from his ashram to the court in the state capital, Chandigarh.

The Associated Press