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Unidentified man with Ramdev turns out to be a scribe

Staff Reporter

This is the second visit of yoga guru to Himachal Pradesh

SHIMLA: The unidentified man, who had travelled with the yoga guru Baba Ramdev from Jalandhar in Punjab to Hamirpur in Himachal, turned out to be a small time reporter with a vernacular Divya Times. He was arrested on Saturday from outside the NIT guest house where the yoga guru was having meeting with the former Union Minister Shanta Kumar. The seven-day yoga camp started on Sunday in the campus of Engineering College in Hamirpur, about 200 kms from here.

The youth identified as Gaurav Kapoor has been remanded in four-day police custody, said Daljeet Thakur, SP of Hamirpur district. "It was a big confusion, we thought him to be the Chief Minister's staff and they thought him to be our man", said Baba Ramdev who boarded the Chief Minister's helicopter from Chandigarh to Hamirpur. Asked about the security lapse, Baba Ramdev said, "it is not wise to say more at this stage since it can affect the investigations".

The rumours claiming Gaurav to be a Kashmiri militant were also doing rounds in Hamirpur. Although his family when contacted in Jalandhar showed the newspaper clippings of Gaurav and said he was unnecessarily being framed.

Suspicious movements

The youth when arrested had given contradictory statements and even claimed to be an employee of the Intelligence Bureau.

He failed to justify his suspicious movements in the vicinity of Baba Ramdev, said the police.

This is the second visit of Baba Ramdev to the hill State of Himachal Pradesh.

Earlier he had come to inaugurate an Ayurvedic Hospital of Mr. Shanta Kumar in Palampur area of Kangra district.

The seven-day exercise camp is now being attended by his 9000 disciples from all over the state.

Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal who comes from Hamirpur, Mr. Shanta Kumar and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh were also present in the inaugural session of the camp on Sunday.

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Unidentified man with Ramdev turns out to be a scribe

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