CHANDIGARH: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the violence by the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda in August 2017, on Tuesday arrested Navin Kumar alias Gobhi Ram, a close confidant of rape-convicted dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Gobhi is accused of being one of the main conspirators in the violence, triggered after the
Panchkula CBI court convicted the Ram Rahim in two cases of rape on August 25, 2017. He was arrested at the bus stand of
Sirsa, said deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Adarshdeep Singh, who is heading the SIT.
The case was registered on directions by the Punjab and Haryana high court. Honeypreet Insan and other prominent dera functionaries have already been arrested in the case. While Gobhi Ram has been arrested, dera functionary Aditya Insan continues tobe on the run. The SIT has already announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to his arrest.
“Gobhi is one of the pillars of Dera Sacha Sauda and is as important as Aditya. He had gone into hiding. We had put him under surveillance in Sirsa. On Tuesday morning, we got information about his presence around the bus stand,” the SIT head said.
The DSP said Gobhi is a good catch and they are hopeful of getting good leads from him about other key accused in the case, including Aditya.
Hailing from Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, Gobhi shifted to the dera two decades ago. He used to look after Gurmeet’s confidential affairs. He is learned to be present in the meeting of the core committee headed by Honeypreet on August 17, 2017, in which the conspiracy to start violence in case Gurmeet got convicted was hatched.
In related development, the additional district and sessions judge in Panchkula adjourned the hearing of the case to Tuesday. Honeypreet, one of the main accused in the case, appeared through video conferencing from
Ambala jail, while other accused were brought to court. As charges could not be framed, the court adjourned the trial to September 10.
Representative image
