The Punjab Police on Friday managed to lay its hands on the controversial robes worn by Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at Salabatpura, which triggered an unholy row between the Dera followers and Sikhs in May. On Friday, Baba Gurmeet handed over the robes to a Punjab Police party from Bathinda which had gone to question him at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa. The Dera chief said the dress and culgee were presented by some of his followers, but he could not recall their names.Legal experts believe the robes would serve as a corroborative evidence for blasphemy. “An important article relating to the controversy wherein the Dera chief allegedly imitated the tenth Sikh Guru is in the possession of the police now and this has given a positive direction to investigations,” a legal official associated with the case told The Indian Express.“We asked him about the dress and he handed it over to us. Other than that, he was not very co-operative,” claimed DSP (D) Surinder Pal, who headed the team, while refusing to elaborate on how the Dera chief had not cooperated. Congress MLA from Bathinda Harminder Singh Jassi was also present inside the dera when the 24-member team went in for questioning. Jassi, who is also Markfed chairman, is a close relative of the sect chief. The investigations pertain to the case registered against the Dera chief for hurting the religious sentiments of the Sikhs by organising a Jaam-e-Insaan ceremony at Salabatpura on May 11. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Dera chief to join the investigations on August 6. The police team will now go to Sirsa on August 24 for another round of questioning. The police have reportedly asked the Dera chief to provide them with all copies of Dera’s mouthpiece Sach Kahoon from January 1, 2007 onwards, on that day. The police have also asked for a copy of a special issue of the publication dedicated to the Jaam-e-Insaan ceremony. The police team had asked the Dera chief to give all these documents by August 19, but he expressed his inability to do so saying he would be going out on that date. As planned, the police took along a videographer to shoot the questioning, but were not allowed to film the entire sequence. The atmosphere in the Dera was peaceful though tense and the officials refused to say anything about the questioning, saying the matter was sub-judice. Sirsa SP Vikas Arora said SHO Mauzi Ram of the Haryana Police accompanied the Punjab Police team to the Dera. (With CB Singh)
