A four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Punjab Police on Monday arrested Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for over seven hours in connection with the theft of a ‘bir’ of the Guru Granth Sahib on June 1. Questioned. 2015 from a Gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district. Dera chief has been questioned for the first time in the sacrilege case.
A member of the SIT team said, during the “first time and continuous questioning”, “over 100 questions” were asked to the Dera chief.
After arresting seven Dera men, in July last year, the SIT named the Dera chief as an accused in the theft and sacrilege case, in which an FIR was registered on June 2, 2015.
The SIT team led by its chief, Inspector General Surinder Pal Singh Parmar, and Batala SSP Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar, DSP Lakhvir Singh and Inspector Dalbir Singh interrogated the Dera chief starting from 10:30 am to 6 pm.
The Dera chief was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2017 for raping two sadhvis (disciples). In January 2019, he and three others were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment along with four others on October 18 for the murder of Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had last month directed that the SIT may interrogate the Dera chief in jail while he was in court seeking quashing of the Faridkot court order where production warrants were issued against him in the 2015 case. and anticipatory bail was sought. arrest incident.
IG Parmar said, “As directed, we will submit the compliance report to the Punjab and Haryana High Court by November 12.
Incidents of sacrilege and police firing on anti-sacrificial protesters, including the theft of “bir” in Behbal Kalan police firing in 2015, where two demonstrators were killed, angered members of the Sikh community, and the erstwhile Akali Dal in Punjab. led government was pushed. Wall.
There is a strong echo of these incidents in view of the assembly elections to be held in Punjab.
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