Verdict on Ram Rahim in journalist’s murder: Haryana on high alert; updates

Gurmeet Ram Rahim will appear through video conferencing for the hearing in journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati’s murder case

Latest News: A special CBI court will today pronounce the verdict on jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati’s murder case. The 51-year-old sect head is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for raping two of his women followers.

Sirsa on high alert

The police carried out a flag march in Sirsa, where Dera Sacha Sauda’s headquarters are located, ahead of a CBI court’s likely verdict. The police said the authorities are taking no chances this time in view of the violent incidents witnessed in Panchkula and Sirsa in August 2017 after Dera chief’s conviction in two rape cases.

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Ram Rahim to appear before CBI court for verdict via video conferencing. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will appear through video conferencing for the hearing in journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati’s murder case.

Journalist death case

Ramchandra Chhatrapati was shot at in October 2002 after his newspaper, ‘Poora Sach’, published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Gurmeet Ram Rahim at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

Keep Reading : Baba Ram Rahim

Dera chief Ram Rahim's 'girl' Honeypreet captured by Haryana Police

Honeypreet said she had slipped into depression after Ram Rahim's conviction

 

Following a month-long look for imprisoned Dera Sacha Sauda boss Gurmeet Ram Rahim's "received" little girl Honeypreet Insan, Haryana Police on Tuesday captured her.

Honeypreet, alongside another lady, was captured by the Haryana Police from the Zirakpur-Patiala street in Punjab, said Panchkula Police Commissioner A S Chawla.

Honeypreet tops the rundown of 43 individuals 'needed' by the Haryana Police regarding the episodes of brutality that left 41 individuals dead and a few harmed following Gurmeet Ram Rahim's conviction in assault cases.

Conversing with media people at Panchkula, Chawla stated, "She has been arrested by SIT in-control (Mukesh Kumar) from Zirakpur-Patiala street in Punjab. She is being conveyed to Panchkula for addressing regarding the occurrences of brutality".

"Her role in the violence (after Ram Rahim's conviction on August 25) will be probed...who provided her shelter or support during her run from police will also be produced. She will be produced before a court (in Panchkula) tomorrow and we will seek her police remand," Chawla said.

Chawla also said that another woman who was accompanying her was also taken into custody.

He said Punjab Police has been educated about the capture.

Honeypreet's capture came hours after she showed up on two private TV channels.

While addressing a Hindi news channel, Honeypreet said that false news was being spread about her association with her received father and depicted the bond she imparted to the Dera boss as "devout"....READ MORE

Dera has Rs 75 cr in 473 accounts; Ram Rahim has Rs 7.72 cr to his name

Haryana govt has frozen 504 bank accounts belonging to the Dera Sacha Sauda and its bodies

With over 500 accounts and close to Rs 75 crore, the Dera Sacha Sauda can hardly complain about the Punjab and Haryana High Court's direction that the cost of damage to public property caused by its members after their leader's conviction in two rape cases would be recovered from its assets.

Multiple bank accounts belonging to the Dera Sacha Sauda hold Rs 74.96 crore, the Indian Express reported on Thursday while citing information compiled by the Haryana government. The report added that jailed Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has Rs 7.72 crore in 12 accounts in his name, while his adopted daughter Honeypreet, who is currently absconding, has over Rs 1 crore in six bank accounts.

Of close to Rs 75 crore amount, the maximum bank balance of a little under Rs 50 crore is held in 20 accounts, which are in the name of Ram Rahim’s film production unit Hakikat Entertainment, the national daily reported, adding that the Haryana government had compiled information on the 504 bank accounts belonging to the Dera and its bodies. All these accounts have been frozen.

As reported in August, the Gurgaon administration had collected details of direct and indirect properties and bank accounts belonging to Dera chief Ram Rahim Singh.

The move came after the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the attachment of all properties owned by the Dera chief to compensate for the loss of property and destruction caused by his supporters in Haryana and other states.

According to an IndiaToday report, the Haryana government, acting on the Punjab and Haryana High Court's orders, has frozen 90 Dera Sacha Sauda bank accounts in Sirsa. Further, the state government has sealed Honeypreet's OBC bank account, while another one with HDFC was yet to be sealed as of September 20.

Ram Rahim's business empire

He may claim to be a Godman, but in real life, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has hardly kept himself from material interests. Like many other self-styled Godmen in India, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s business interest straddles across sectors – from education and healthcare services to FMCG and movie production. And, with 60 million followers across the globe with whom he enjoys a larger-than-life status, Singh is the face of all entities and products. While Singh personally holds a stake in the FMCG business, to the rest he is linked through cross-holdings and related-party transactions. (Read our full report on Ram Rahim's business empire).....read more

Gurmeet Ram Rahim sentencing today: 'Messenger of god' gets the message of law

The duration of Ram Rahim's imprisonment will be announced on Monday

 

“I have always respected the law. Even though I am having a backache, still abiding by the law, I will go to court (tomorrow). I have full faith in God. Everyone should maintain peace.” Thus spake Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, film actor, producer, director, businessman and evangelist of the Dera Sacha Sauda a day before he was convicted by a CBI court of raping a disciple.

The story of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh aka messenger of god (as his film in which he was a hero, actor, director and producer was called) begins in the first decade of 2000.

A dera is a single person setting up a religious institution for social or educational activities. There are thousands of deras, big and small, all over north India, headed by Sikh or Hindu chiefs. The Radhasoami Satsang Beas is one such, the Nirankaris have their own deras. The logic is that as the Akal Takht, the highest Sikh religious body, cannot be present everywhere to translate on the ground the tenets of Sikhism, anyone who wants to can set up a dera to preach and practise a religion that technically does not recognise caste.

ALSO READ: Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape conviction: 36 killed, 250 injured in Dera violence

The Dera Sacha Sauda is one such. It is located in what is now Haryana but was once undivided Punjab. It has a largely Dalit following in Sirsa, which is a Sikh belt contiguous with Punjab. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is a successor of previous highly popular gurus, and has a reputation of being a somewhat quixotic individual who lives in an air-conditioned cave, is fond of dressing in king-like robes, drives in luxury cars, and keeps armed guards with him at all times.

All political leaders — Parkash Singh Badal, Amarinder Singh, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, and SS Dhindsa — have called on him to seek his blessings. This has been a recognition of the huge following of largely Dalit supporters he has been able to command. Sirsa sits atop the Chandigarh-Punjab-Rajasthan border and can influence political opinion in three states.

ALSO READ: Gurmeet Ram Rahim rape conviction: 36 killed, 250 injured in Dera violence

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh would have been just another harmless religious leader had it not been for two events — one, a CBI enquiry into the circumstances of the murder of a journalist in the area who wrote reports charging Singh with various misdeeds including murder and rape; and two, that Singh, one day in the middle of the campaign for the 2007 assembly elections announced to his followers that they all must vote for the Congress. (Read more)