News Analysis India

Tag: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

  • Out on parole, Sirsa dera chief holds online discourses; BJP leaders show up

    By PTI

    KARNAL: Currently out on parole, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for the past few days has been holding online discourses, which have been attended by BJP leaders from Haryana.

    His parole has once again coincided with some polls in the region, the third such instance in the current year.

    Haryana will be witnessing panchayat elections and the bypolls to the Adampur Assembly seat next month.

    The dera chief, who is serving a 20-year jail for raping his two disciples, had earlier come out of prison on a month-long parole in June, ahead of the elections to 46 municipalities in Haryana.

    He was granted three weeks furlough from February 7, barely two weeks before the Punjab Assembly elections.

    The Sirsa dera has a large number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

    The 55-year-old Sirsa dera chief is holding online “satsangs” from the dera’s Barnawa ashram in UP’s Bagphat.

    Haryana Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa was present in a big gathering of the sect’s followers in Hisar on Wednesday to listen to an online discourse, during which he talked about his family’s association with the Sirsa dera.

    Earlier on Tuesday, Karnal Mayor Renu Bala also joined an online “satsang” along with some other BJP leaders.

    After his release on 40-day parole on October 14, the dera chief went to the Barnawa ashram from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail where he was lodged.

    Speaking with him during the online discourse, Ranbir Gangwa said he was happy at the blessings given by the dera chief and hoped that one day he will address them face-to-face.

    “You should always give your blessings,” said Gangwa, who referred to several “humanitarian causes” taken up by the dera from time to time.

    Renu Bala addressed to the sect chief as “Pitaji” and said his blessings should always be with them.

    She said many years back he had come to Karnal and given a message of cleanliness that helped the city.

    “In future too, you should come to Karnal and once again give a message of ‘swachhta’ and bless us,” she is heard saying in a video of the event.

    When contacted over the phone on Thursday, Gangwa said he sees nothing wrong in attending to the online discourse of the dera chief.

    He said since decades he and his family is connected with the dera and it is a matter of personal belief and choices.

    “Since my birth, I am connected with this dera. In my village, the dera exists since 1960. Who follows that belief is his choice, why should anyone have an issue with that,” he said.

    When asked eyebrows were being raised on the timing of dera chief’s parole, Gangwa said, “If he has been given parole against jail manual, then one can raise an objection. But granting parole to any prisoner is his legitimate right and rules have been framed for that”.

    “He has been given parole even when there were no polls, so I don’t see any issue here,” Gangwa said.

    Gangwa said several “humanitarian causes” have been taken up by the dera from time to time, including cleanliness drive, holding mega blood donation camps, drives against drug menace, extending help to the poor, which should not be overlooked.

    The dera chief was last year also convicted along with four others for hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a dera manager.

    The dera chief and three others were convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

    KARNAL: Currently out on parole, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for the past few days has been holding online discourses, which have been attended by BJP leaders from Haryana.

    His parole has once again coincided with some polls in the region, the third such instance in the current year.

    Haryana will be witnessing panchayat elections and the bypolls to the Adampur Assembly seat next month.

    The dera chief, who is serving a 20-year jail for raping his two disciples, had earlier come out of prison on a month-long parole in June, ahead of the elections to 46 municipalities in Haryana.

    He was granted three weeks furlough from February 7, barely two weeks before the Punjab Assembly elections.

    The Sirsa dera has a large number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

    The 55-year-old Sirsa dera chief is holding online “satsangs” from the dera’s Barnawa ashram in UP’s Bagphat.

    Haryana Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa was present in a big gathering of the sect’s followers in Hisar on Wednesday to listen to an online discourse, during which he talked about his family’s association with the Sirsa dera.

    Earlier on Tuesday, Karnal Mayor Renu Bala also joined an online “satsang” along with some other BJP leaders.

    After his release on 40-day parole on October 14, the dera chief went to the Barnawa ashram from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail where he was lodged.

    Speaking with him during the online discourse, Ranbir Gangwa said he was happy at the blessings given by the dera chief and hoped that one day he will address them face-to-face.

    “You should always give your blessings,” said Gangwa, who referred to several “humanitarian causes” taken up by the dera from time to time.

    Renu Bala addressed to the sect chief as “Pitaji” and said his blessings should always be with them.

    She said many years back he had come to Karnal and given a message of cleanliness that helped the city.

    “In future too, you should come to Karnal and once again give a message of ‘swachhta’ and bless us,” she is heard saying in a video of the event.

    When contacted over the phone on Thursday, Gangwa said he sees nothing wrong in attending to the online discourse of the dera chief.

    He said since decades he and his family is connected with the dera and it is a matter of personal belief and choices.

    “Since my birth, I am connected with this dera. In my village, the dera exists since 1960. Who follows that belief is his choice, why should anyone have an issue with that,” he said.

    When asked eyebrows were being raised on the timing of dera chief’s parole, Gangwa said, “If he has been given parole against jail manual, then one can raise an objection. But granting parole to any prisoner is his legitimate right and rules have been framed for that”.

    “He has been given parole even when there were no polls, so I don’t see any issue here,” Gangwa said.

    Gangwa said several “humanitarian causes” have been taken up by the dera from time to time, including cleanliness drive, holding mega blood donation camps, drives against drug menace, extending help to the poor, which should not be overlooked.

    The dera chief was last year also convicted along with four others for hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a dera manager.

    The dera chief and three others were convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.

  • Jailed Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim does not fall in hardcore prisoner category: HC

    The court of Justice Raj Mohan Singh also disposed of the plea filed by a Patiala resident who had challenged the furlough granted to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in February.

  • Punjab police SIT team questions Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief for more than 7 hours in sacrilege case

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: A Punjab police SIT team on Monday grilled jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for more than seven hours in connection with a 2015 sacrilege case.

    During the questioning at Rohtak’s Sunaria jail in Haryana, the jailed sect head was asked more than 100 questions by the Punjab police special investigation team (SIT) led by Inspector General of Police S P S Parmar.

    “The questioning began at 10:30 AM and continued till 6 PM,” Parmar told PTI over the phone.

    The SIT will now submit a report in this regard in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on November 12, he said.

    The Dera sect head has been questioned for the first time in the sacrilege case.

    Parmar and three other SIT members – Senior Superintendent of Police M S Bhullar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Lakhvir Singh and Inspector Dalbir Singh – left for Rohtak’s Sunaria jail from Rajpura on Monday morning, officials said.

    Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail since his conviction in 2017 for raping two disciples.

    The Dera Sacha Sauda chief had been named as an accused in the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib.

    Last month, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had told the Punjab police that it could question the Dera sect head in jail in the 2015 sacrilege case.

    The high court had, however, ordered that Dera head would not be taken to the Faridkot court in pursuance of a production warrant.

    The Faridkot court had earlier issued the production warrant against Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the 2015 desecration of Guru Granth Sahib case for an appearance on October 29.

    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 investigation.

    The Punjab government, however, 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 a lack of progress in the investigation.

    In 2017, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20-year imprisonment for raping two disciples.

    Over two years back, the sect head was also awarded life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

    On October 18 this year, a special CBI court in Panchkula had sentenced Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others to life imprisonment in the 19-year-old murder case of the sect manager Ranjit Singh.

  • Sacrilege case: Punjab Police SIT to question Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief

    By PTI

    CHANDIGARH: A special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police left for the Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak on Monday morning to question Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in connection with a 2015 sacrilege case.

    Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is lodged in the Sunaria jail since his conviction in 2017 for raping two of his disciples.

    The Dera Sacha Sauda chief was named as an accused in the theft of a “bir” (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs.

    The four-member SIT, led by Inspector General SPS Parmar, left for the Sunaria jail from Rajpura in the morning, officials said.

    The other members of the team are Senior Superintendent of Police M S Bhullar, Deputy Superintendent of Police Lakhvir Singh and Inspector Dalbir Singh.

    “It is a process of investigation which we are taking forward,” Parmar told reporters before leaving for Rohtak.

    Replying to a query on how long is the questioning of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief expected to last, he said it would depend on whether he cooperates or not and “whether his replies are proper or not”.

    He said the SIT has prepared a list of questions for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

    Last month, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said the Punjab Police could question the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head in the jail in connection with the 2015 sacrilege case.

    The court had, however, said Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh would not be taken to the Faridkot court in pursuance of a production warrant.

    The Faridkot court had earlier issued the production warrant against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the case for producing him before it on October 29.

    The previous SAD-BJP government in Punjab had handed over three cases — lodged in connection with the theft of a 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 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

    The Punjab government, however, had handed over the probe to the 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 a lack of progress in the investigation.

    In 2017, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to jail for 20 years for raping two of his disciples.

    More than two years ago, the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head was also sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

    On October 18 this year, a special CBI court in Panchkula sentenced Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others to life imprisonment in the 19-year-old murder case of sect manager Ranjit Singh.

  • Gurmeet Ram Rahim, 4 others get life imprisonment in 2002 murder case

    By Online Desk

    The special CBI court in Panchkula on Monday awarded life imprisonment to all the five accused, including the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 Ranjit Singh murder case.

    The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the four accused — Krishan Singh, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh, and Sabdil.

    Ram Rahim, who has been lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail since his conviction in 2017, had pleaded leniency citing welfare work being done by the Dera. However, CBI opposed it demanding maximum punishment under IPC Section 302.  

    The court had on Friday found Ram Rahim and four others guilty on the charge of murdering his follower Ranjit Singh in 2002. 

    The verdict was pronounced by CBI Special Judge Sushil Garg in Panchkula. 

    The Dera chief is the main accused in the case. The other accused are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh, and Sabdil. Another accused Inder Sain had died in October 2020.

    Ranjit Singh was a staunch follower of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. He was murdered on July 10, 2002. As per the charge sheet filed by the CBI, Ram Rahim had suspected that Singh had circulated an anonymous letter among the Dera followers which allegedly accused him of sexually exploiting women followers. This was the same letter that Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati highlighted in his news report. 

  • Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh pronounced guilty of killing follower

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH:  A special CBI court on Friday found Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others guilty on the charge of murdering his follower Ranjit Singh in 2002. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on October 12.

    The verdict was pronounced by CBI Special Judge Sushil Garg in Panckula. 

    The Dera chief is the main accused in the case. The other accused are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil. Another accused Inder Sain had died in October 2020.

    Ranjit Singh was a staunch follower of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. He was murdered on July 10, 2002. As per the charge sheet filed by the CBI, Ram Rahim had suspected that Singh had circulated an anonymous letter among the Dera followers which allegedly accused him of sexually exploiting women followers. This was the same letter which Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati highlighted in his news report. 

  • No clean chit to Dera Sacha Sauda chief in sacrilege case: Punjab Police

    The statement came amid some news reports referring to Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, who has been given additional charge of Punjab #39;s police chief.

  • 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.