Followers jam Sirsa highway as dera chief appears in court

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, April 18

Hundreds of Dera Sacha Sauda followers gathered at the Barnala road outside the district courts complex in Sirsa, as dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh appeared before the CBI court through video conferencing.

All three cases pending against him — sadhvi sexual exploitation case, journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapatti’s murder and Ranjit Singh’s murder case — were listed for hearing today. The dera chief’s cavalcade entered the district courts complex at about 9.20am and came out after 1 pm.

However, dera followers, who were brought in private vehicles, started gathering on the Barnala road well before Ram Rahim’s arrival and stayed put till he left.

Contrary to previous occasions, when women and children quietly sat along the road, a large number of followers were seen roaming the Sirsa – Barnala highway, blocking traffic in the process. The police personnel seemed helpless in front of the large numbers of followers gathered outside the courts.

The dera chief will once again appear in court on April 20 for the hearing of the sadhvi sexual exploitation case. For the other two murder cases pending against him, the dera chief will appear in court on May 2.