Cops close case on girl ‘kidnapped’ and sent to Dera ashram

ALWAR: A 45-year-old father from Pratapgarh has been running from pillar to post to trace his daughter who was allegedly kidnapped four years ago and sent to the 'ashram' of self-styled Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

On Monday, the police filed a closure report on the matter and claimed the complaint to be false after failing to trace the girl.

"My daughter was kidnapped by two youths, identified as Bablu and Surajmal Sharma, on October 8, 2013. I came to know that they had taken her to the 'ashram' of Baba Gurmeet Singh. I have met everyone from senior police officers in Alwar to officials of the state women's commission. But none of them have come forward to help," said Giriraj Sharma while speaking to TOI on Monday.

Sharma wants the Alwar police to interrogate Gurmeet Singh, who is convicted in a rape case in Haryana, to track his missing daughter.

"Earlier, the police had never bothered to find my daughter and had never visited the 'ashram' of Gurmeet. He is now in jail and can be questioned," Sharma said. He said he had visited the police station many times, but the police never took the pain to trace his daughter. "Now, when I go to the station, they just laugh at me," he added.

However, in the final closure report, the police have stated that they had visited the 'ashram' and interrogated three persons.

When contacted, Ajay Singh, in-charge of Pratapgarh police station, said that the case was four years old and he was not aware of it. "I am not aware about it as I joined this police station some months ago," Singh said.

It may be recalled that the Jaipur police are also investigating a similar case in which a man has alleged that his wife was kidnapped by the followers of Dera chief to his 'ashram' in Sirsa.