Police withdraws plea for production warrants of Ram Rahim, Honeypreet

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 21

Eyebrows are being raised over the manner in which the police first moved an application before a Sirsa court for seeking production warrants against Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim and his “adopted daughter” Honeypreet, but withdrew it on Friday before the court could pronounce its order.

Sources said that the Sirsa police moved the application in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Dr Savita Kumari seeking production warrants for Ram Rahim and Honeypreet for bringing them to Sirsa to question them in connection with a meeting held in the dera on August 17 last year to hatch a conspiracy of violence in case the dera head was convicted on August 25.

In the application, the police said that the role of Ram Rahim, at present lodged in the Sunaria jail of Rohtak for rape of his women disciples, and Honeypreet, an under trial lodged in the Ambala jail for the Panchkula violence, has come to light in investigations into violence in Sirsa.

Arguments on the application were completed on Thursday and the court had reserved its order for Friday. However, before the court could pronounce its order yesterday, the police withdrew the application with leave to file another application on the issue in future, if need arises.

On Friday, DGP, Prisons, KP Singh was also quoted in a section of media saying that if the police wanted to take away Ram Rahim on production warrants, they would be responsible for his security.

“It is unfortunate that the police were still helping the dera chief despite his conviction in a heinous offence of rape. The simple fact that the police moved an application makes it clear that they needed Ram Rahim and Honeypreet in connection with violence in Sirsa,” said advocate Lekh Raj Dhot, counsel for slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati’s son Anshul in the case of murder in which the dera chief is an accused.