Two key Dera functionaries booked for sedition in Panchkula

Security personnel stand gaurd as smoke is seen after followers went violent following court verdict in the rape trial of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, in Sirsa on Friday. (Source: PTI Photo)

Two key Dera functionaries have been booked for sedition on the basis of a news report, Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said today. Addressing a press conference here, the top cop said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the state police to verify the report carried by a Hindi daily regarding alleged instigation of Dera supporters by its five leaders.

“An FIR has been lodged in Panchkula police station following a statement by a newspaper reporter against two key functionaries of the Dera, namely Aditya Insan and Dhiman Insaan. The duo have been booked for sedition,” he said. The development comes after sedition and attempt to murder charges were slapped against seven persons, including five Haryana police personnel, who were part of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s security paraphernalia when he had arrived at Panchkula to appear in a CBI court on August 25.

The seven security personnel of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had allegedly tried to free him when the self-styled godman was brought outside the Panchkula Court complex on Friday, after the special CBI court convicted him in a 15-year-old rape case, police said. “A case has also been registered against some Dera followers for allegedly attacking employees of a private news channel and snatching their car in Sirsa today. The vehicle has since been recovered,” Sandhu said.

A 35-year-old cameraman of a news channel was attacked allegedly by followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief after he tried to enter the campus of the sect. The conviction of the Dera head in the 2002 rape case had triggered arson and violence across Haryana that claimed 36 lives and injured over 250 people