News Analysis India

Tag: Dera Sacha Sauda

  • Desecration case: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s name omitted from FIR, alleges Jathedar; police deny charge

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Wednesday accused the special investigation team of dropping the name of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh from an FIR in a desecration case, a charge denied by the police.

    The special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 desecration incidents also said the Sirsa dera chief was not named in this case and it did not give a clean chit to anyone.

    Addressing the media in Amritsar, the Jathedar of Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, said the SIT had filed a charge sheet pertaining to FIR No.128 in a Faridkot court a few days ago.

    “It is surprising that the SIT, which has filed a challan regarding the FIR No. 128, removed the name of Dera Sacha Sauda chief from the case. It raises suspicion. There is politics at play. We have been saying there should not be politics over this issue,” alleged the Jathedar.

    “Why his name (Dera chief) removed quietly. Is it for taking mileage for the 2022 Assembly elections,” he asked.

    He demanded that the Dera chief be brought to Punjab from the Haryana jail and he should be questioned about the sacrilege incident.

    Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his women disciples in his “ashram”.

    He was convicted in August 2017 by a special CBI court in Panchkula.

    The FIR pertains to finding of torn pages of the Guru Grant Sahib at Bargari on October 12, 2015 and it was registered at the Bajakhana police station in Faridkot.

    Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal also accused the state government of deliberately not holding Gurmeet Ram Rahim responsible for hatching a conspiracy to commit the sacrilege at Bargari in exchange for support from the dera in the Assembly elections.

    Reacting to the accusations, SIT chief SPS Parmar asserted that the investigations in the cases were moving fast in the right direction.

    He denied giving a clean chit to Gurmeet Ram Rahim or anyone else, rejecting claims to the contrary as malicious social media propaganda.

    Parmar said nobody is above the law and if evidence is found against anyone at any point during the ongoing investigations, due action would be initiated against such persons as per the law of the land.

    Investigations into the three cases pertaining to Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala are still open, Parmar underlined.

    He said as per challan of FIR No.128, it is clearly mentioned that if and when any evidence comes against anyone in these desecration cases, he/she shall be brought to book and supplementary challans shall be presented against those who figure at any point during the ongoing investigation.

    Parmar said the Dera Sacha Sauda head was named as accused in FIR No.

    63, which pertains to theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from a Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara.

    Three more Dera committee members Harsh Dhuri, Sandeep Bareta and Pardeep Kler-were booked in this case but they were absconding.

    In this case too, the investigation is underway by the same SIT and nobody has been given clean chit, he said.

    On July 9, the Punjab police SIT had filed its first charge sheet against six dera followers in a case of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.

    The six accused who were arrested were Sukhjinder Singh, alias Sunny; Shakti Singh; Ranjit Singh, alias Bhola; Baljit Singh; Nishan Singh; and Pardeep Singh.

    They were arrested in May.

    In February this year, the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had handed over the documents and files related to the 2015 incidents to the Punjab Police SIT.

    The previous SAD-BJP government had handed over the three cases — theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from a Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara; putting up of handwritten sacrilegious posters in Bargari and Burj Jawahar Singh Wala; and torn pages of the holy book found at Bargari–to the CBI for probe.

    The Punjab government had handed over the probe to an SIT of the state police in September 2018 after the state Assembly passed a resolution withdrawing consent to the CBI to investigate these cases, noting lack of progress in the investigation.

  • Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh taken to AIIMS in Delhi for tests

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is lodged in Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak district, was on Tuesday taken to AIIMS in Delhi under heavy police escort for some tests, an official said.

    According to sources, Singh was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences as the required tests were not available in Rohtak.

    Notably, the Dera chief has been facing some health issues recently.

    Last month, he was taken to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram for some tests.

    He spent a few days at the private facility.

    Days before that, Singh underwent some tests at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak after he complained of abdominal pain.

    Earlier in May, he was admitted to PGIMS after he complained of dizziness and blood pressure fluctuation.

    He was discharged after an overnight stay at the hospital.

    Singh, 53, is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his women disciples in his ‘ashram’ in Sirsa.

    He was convicted in August 2017 by a special CBI court in Panchkula.

  • Hospital cancels attendant card of Dera chief Ram Rahim’s ‘daughter’

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: After the Haryana Police objected to Honeypreet adopted daughter of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh being his attendant at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, hospital authorities have suspended her attendant card.

    Sources said DSP Shamsher Singh Dahiya of Rohtak Police approached hospital authorities and said this was against the jail manual.

    “The hospital management was told that Singh is a prisoner and nobody can meet him other than doctors and staff attending him. If he escapes or something happens to him, it will be responsibility of the hospital,” said an officer.

    Singh was found Covid-19 positive after a rapid antigen test and a CT scan also suggested he had the infection. However, his RT-PCR test report came negative on Monday and he was shifted to another ward from the Covid ward, said sources. It was learnt that Singh had been insisting on meeting Honeypreet and the hospital allowed her with an attendant card which was valid up to June 15.

    Taking cognizance of the jail manual provided by the police, the Medanta management suspended her card. The hospital stated that nobody is allowed to meet him now. Hospital authorities are also trying to discharge Singh or transfer him to a hospital in Rohtak as soon as possible.

  • Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in Gurugram hospital, tests positive for Covid-19

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was on Sunday taken to a hospital in Gurugram where he has reportedly tested positive for Covid-19.

    After the 53-year-old self-styled godman complained of abdominal pain, the authorities of Sunaria prison, where he is lodged, had taken him to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) at Rohtak on Thursday for a CT scan. At that time, he had refused to undergo Covid test.  

    On Sunday he was taken to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram under heavy police protection and some more tests, including that for Covid-19, were conducted. As the result turned positive, he was shifted to the Covid ward of the hospital. However, the hospital has not issued any statement regarding the same.

    Superintendent of Sunaria Jail, Sunil Sangwan said Singh was brought to the Gurugram hospital as PGIMS couldn’t conduct some other tests. Singh is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his women disciples, and was convicted in 2017.

  • Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim granted one-day parole to meet ailing mother

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is currently lodged in a Rohtak jail, was on Friday granted one-day parole to meet his ailing mother, officials said.

    For the daylong parole, he was taken from the Rohtak’s Sunaria jail to meet his mother at a location, which has been kept as “classified” in view of the security reasons and to avoid his followers from gathering there, they said.

    The dera head left the jail under heavy police escort, the officials said.

    Earlier this week, the dera chief had sought an “emergency parole” to meet his ailing mother.

    Serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, he had submitted some documents regarding the ailment of his mother to the prison authorities and had sought a 21-day parole to attend to her, prison officials had said earlier.

    Prison officials had written to the Haryana Police in this regard and sought an NoC from them, after which the daylong parole was granted.

    Before taking a decision on his parole plea, considerations mainly on law and order ground are taken into account, sources said.

    In October last year too, the Sirsa dera head was given a day’s parole to meet his ailing mother.

    The dera chief was in August 2017 sentenced by a special CBI court in Panchkula to 20 years in jail in the two rape cases.

  • Jailed Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim taken to Rohtak PGIMS following ‘blood pressure fluctuation’

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh took ill Wednesday and was moved to PGIMS Rohtak on the advice of prison doctors, officials said.

    The 53-year-old chief of the Sirsa-headquartered sect would be kept under the observation of a team of doctors in the government hospital, the officials in the prisons department said.

    Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who has been lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail since 2017 following his conviction for raping his two women disciples, was examined by the doctors at the high-security prison after he complained of blood pressure-related issues, the officials said.

    After being examined by the jail doctors, he was taken to PGIMS at Rohtak for better observation and management, they said.

    “He had some fluctuation in his blood pressure. On the advice of (prison) doctors, he was taken to PGIMS Rohtak,” Haryana’s Director General of Prisons Shatrujeet Singh Kapoor told PTI over the phone.

    Security has been tightened at the hospital, a police official from Rohtak told PTI, adding the sect chief had been kept in a separate ward.

    The dera chief was in August 2017 sentenced by a special CBI court in Panchkula to 20 years in jail in the rape case.