Self-styled godman Rampal, head of Satlok Ashram, was on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Hisar court in connection with a 2014 murder case.

The court of Hisar Additional District and Sessions Judge DR Chaliya also gave life imprionment to 14 followers of Rampal and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh each.

The court has pronounced the verdict after a nearly four-year-long trial of the 27 accused in a makeshift court inside the Hisar district jail, where Rampal (67) and his followers have been lodged since their arrest in November 2014.

This court will now pronounce the quantum of punishment for Rampal in a second murder case on Wednesday.

The court had on October 11 convicted Rampal and 26 of his followers in two separate cases of murder and other offences, including wrongful confinement of his victims at his ashram.

The two murder cases against Rampal relate to the murder of six people, including five women and one infant, during violent clashes between his supporters and Haryana Police at his Satlok Ashram near Barwala town in Hisar district in 2014.

Thousands of his followers had clashed with police when they had come to arrest him following directions of the Punjab & Haryana High Court over contempt of court in November 2014. The HC had ordered Rampal’s arrest after he failed to appear before the court in connection with a 2006 murder conspiracy case.

To prevent the godman’s arrest, Rampal and his aides had barricaded themselves and holed themselves up inside the sprawling 12 acre Satlok Ashram. The controversial godman was arrested on November 19 after a two-week long stand-off between his followers and police which had left six dead and several others injured.