Sirsa: Policemen walk past a poster of Baba Ram Rahim while patrolling a street in Sirsa after the pronouncement of quantum of sentence for the Dera chief in the two rape cases against him, on Monday. (PTI/File Photo)
Dera Sacha Sauda head’s personal security guards, who were arrested for attempting to trigger violence by the Chandigarh Police, have told their interrogators that they were being commanded by one Mitthu. The accused have also revealed all of them did not know each other before coming to Panchkula on verdict day, but they were commanded by a management employee of dera, Mitthu.
“We took the accused to Sirsa twice on police remand to locate Mitthu, the person who commanded these guards. But on both occasions, we returned empty handed as we were not allowed to move inside the dera due to heavy force deployment and curfew still prevailing in Sirsa,” said Harminder Singh, SHO, Manimajra police station.
During the questioning, the accused claimed that Mitthu was in-charge of water management at the dera and worked under a committee of members. Interestingly, they said that they didn’t know him by any other name, and could only identify him by face.
Meanwhile, Rohit Kumar, the investigating officer in the case, said that the accused were produced before a local court on Thursday and sent to judicial custody. We have their vehicle, a Maruti Gypsy, in our custody which is registered in Dera Sacha Sauda’s name and clearly indicates that they belong to the dera. The arrested guards, identified as Dharmender, Anoop, Maninder Singh, Krishanpal, Sukhvinder, and a driver were held with an iron rod, 7.65 mm pistol, and 25 live cartridges recovered at the entry point of Chandigarh, near Mansa Devi Complex (MDC).
The accused told police they came as part of Ram Rahim’s cavalcade to Panchkula from Sirsa, and had plans to move to Chandigarh to fuel arson and violence. Kumar, meanwhile, said that all six have left their families and they visit home just once a year. While one of the accused, Sukhvinder from Tohana, has been disowned by his family after he got attached with dera. These security guards had met the dera chief just two times and were all commanded by a coordination committee at dera, added Kumar.
