Shooting down the truth

RAM Chander Chhatrapati, editor of Poora Sach at Sirsa in Haryana was shot at his residence allegedly by two followers of Dera Sachha Sauda in October 2002. Chhatrapati had published a letter sent by a sadhavi of the Dera to then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, complaining of sexual harassment by Gurmeet Singh, the head of the Dera.

Dera Sachha Sauda, established in 1948 at Sirsa, claims to have over a crore followers across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh.

Says Chhatrapati’s son Anshul, who now heads the newspaper: ‘‘At 7.45 pm two followers of Dera Sachha Sauda, Nirmal Singh and Kuldeep Singh came to our house and called out to my father. He went out and after a minute or so we heard gunshots. Five shots were fired, of which four hit my father. I ran out and saw my father lying in a pool of blood. Both the accused ran in away. They were caught by the police within hours of the incident. My father was admitted to a hospital at Rohtak where he died after 28 days.’’

Another accused, Kishan Lal, then president of the Dera Sachha Sauda’s committee, too was later arrested. ‘‘It was Kishan Lal’s licensed revolver that was used by the killers,’’ says Anshul.

While Nirmal Singh and Kuldeep Singh are still in judicial custody, Kishan Lal was granted bail last year.

CHHATRAPATI’S family has won the battle to get a CBI probe but it’s only a battle half won. ‘‘We don’t know if the CBI has even begun its probe yet. Nobody from the CBI has come to us yet to ask us anything,’’ says Anshul.

While Chhatrapati’s family waits for justice, the people of Sirsa are waiting to find the real truth of what lies beyond the Dera’s gates.