Will appear in Panchkula court, says Dera chief

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, August 24

Breaking week-long suspense over his appearance, Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Thursday said he would go to the Panchkula court on August 25.

In a Facebook post, which he later tweeted from his official handle, the Dera chief said he respected the law and despite his backache he would go to Panchkula. He also told his followers to maintain peace.

“I have always respected the law. Though I have a backache, I will abide by the law and will go to court. I have full faith in God. Everyone should maintain peace,” is the English translation of the Dera chief’s message in Hindi posted at noon on Thursday.

Within an hour, his tweet attracted over 8,500 retweets and 9,000 likes.

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Speaking to The Tribune after Ram Rahim Singh’s message, Dr Aditya Insan, spokesperson of the Dera, said the Dera had been maintaining from beginning that Guruji had always followed due process of law and would do so this time too.

Meanwhile, tension prevails in Sirsa as thousands of Dera followers have been roaming around the Dera headquarters and elsewhere in the town, many of them with sticks in their hands.

Women devotees with sticks in their hands are manning Gates Numbers 2 and 3 of the Dera.

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Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh has announced imposition of curfew in Sirsa and nearby villages Shahpur Begu, Nejia and Bajekan from 10 pm tonight. 

In the morning, Dera followers took the authorities by surprise when hundreds of them assembled outside police lines.

Later, the authorities closed the Barnala road that leads to the courts premises and police lines near the PWD Rest House.

The police as well as Rapid Action Force staged a flag march on various roads of the town.

Senior IAS officer V Umashankar and IG Amitabh Dhillon, who are camping in Sirsa to assist the district administration, DC Prabhjot Singh and SP Ashwin Shenvi accompanied the flag march.

The Dera chief was accused of rape in 1999. The CBI took over the investigation in 2002. On August 17, the special CBI court of Panchkula concluded hearing in the case, but reserved pronouncing the verdict for August 25.

For the August 17 hearing, Gurmeet was exempted from appearing in person at Panchkula by the court. The Dera chief had cited medical reasons for not attending court in person.

The case was registered by the CBI in 2002 against the Dera chief after allegations of sexual exploitation of two women followers through anonymous letters.

The hearing has been going on since 2007.

हमने सदा क़ानून का सम्मान किया है।हालाँकि हमारी back में दर्द है,फिर भी क़ानून की पालना करते हुए हम कोर्ट ज़रूर... https://t.co/KpTEsCSiUV

— Dr.GURMEET RAM RAHIM (@Gurmeetramrahim) August 24, 2017