Jainendra School in Sector 1, Panchkula. Jaipal Singh
TWO DAYS before the CBI court here was to pronounce verdict in the rape case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the district administration feverishly prepared a helipad in a school close to the district court complex, in preparation for the eventuality of transporting the Dera Sacha Sauda head by helicopter from his Sirsa headquarters.
In the event, the helipad was not used. Ram Rahim arrived at the heavily guarded Sector 1 court complex in his own motorcade. After the court proceedings, when he had been taken into the custody by Haryana Police, and the government flew him out of Panchkula to the Sunaria jail in Rohtak in a chopper, it was from the helipad of the Western Command Chandimandir.
When the police and the district administration were scouting for a suitable place for a helipad, Jainendra School in Sector 1 was a natural choice.
“We identified the school ground of Jainendra Public School for two reasons. One: The school is adjoining the district courts, Sector 1. Second: The ground has huge space. At the last moment, we changed our plan and decided to use the helipad of Western Command. District administration constructed the temporary helipad at the school playground,” said a senior police officer.
Jainendra Public School, Sector 1, readily agreed, but the school management had one request: that the sports equipment installed in the school ground should be removed carefully and kept aside, for reinstallation later.
But that did not happen. The district administration sent a JCB machine, which was the quickest and easiest way to clear the ground. In the process, the equipment was removed in a way that it all got damaged. The ground was levelled, and an H mark made for a helicopter to land.
The school management is now in the process of making an estimate of the damage so it can claim compensation from the state government. The damaged equipment included baseball poles, jungle gym climbing frames, see-saws and cricket nets with poles.
The school principal, Sudha Babbar, said, “We had requested the district administration to shift these pieces of sports equipment, which were removable, and we would install these again but administration used a JCB machine making all this equipment completely unusable. All these objects are removable, and could have been pulled out safely in a way we could install these again, but in their present condition, they cannot be used again. We are making the estimate. We are communicating with the local administration through city magistrate.”
The school management has invited quotations for the damaged equipment and two companies have come forward to file quotations so far.
Panchkula Deputy Commissioner Gauri Parashar Joshi refused to make any comment on the issue.
However, sources in the administration said all the losses of Jainendra Public School, Sector 1, would be compensated after following the set procedure.
1,063 Dera followers arrested so far
As many as 1,063 Dera followers have been arrested so far in different cases of violence related to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction. About 55 FIRs were registered at different police stations of Panchkula. The FIRs were registered at Sector 5 police station, Sector 20 police station, Chandimandir police station and Mansa Devi Complex police station. Four special investigation teams were constituted for investigating the cases.
