Gurmeet Ram Rahim
HOW WILL the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, arrive in Panchkula to go to court when it pronounces the verdict in the rape case against him on August 25? Will he come by road from the Sirsa heaquarters of the Dera Sacha Sauda or land somewhere in Panchkula or adjoining Chandigarh by chopper?
The question seems to be giving Haryana officials sleepless nights since August 17 when the special CBI court in Panchkula reserved the decision and decided to pronounce the verdict on August 25 in the presence of suspect Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is protected with Z plus security cover, provided by the government, because it is believed that he is a target for Sikh extremist groups.
Sources attached to security arrangements in Panchkula said, “The entire police top brass is busy chalking out a specific plan and officers are in constant touch with the Dera management, suggesting it to adopt the safest mode of travel from Sirsa to Panchkula. It will be a tough time for the police to handle the situation at a time when over one lakh followers of the Dera head are expected to be present in Panchkula on August 25.”
A senior Haryana police officer, deputed in Panchkula, said, “His arrival plan is top secret. Only a couple of officers are in the loop on this. How the Dera head will enter the district court complex and how he will be escorted out is also not clear. Recently, Haryana DGP B S Sandhu, along with senior officers, was in Sirsa and the topic was discussed there. But, the outcome is yet to be shared with us.”
In February 2008, the Dera chief’s cavalcade was targeted when a tyre filled with explosives was hurled at his car, triggering a blast that injured 11 people near Nilokheri in Karnal district. The Dera chief was unhurt in the attack.
Later, three persons, including Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader Bakhshish Singh, alias Baba, was held guilty for attempting to kill the Dera head in September 2012. In March 2017, a letter of threat, addressed to Gurmeet Ram Rahim, was received by the Dera management in Sirsa.
