Maur blast: Process initiated to attach properties of accused

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 9

The police have started the process of attaching the properties of followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, who are accused in the Maur bomb blast case.

Police have written a letter to the deputy commissioners of Mansa, Sirsa and Kurkshetra district in Haryana and demanded the details of property of the three accused.

The accused whose property details have been seek by the police are Gurtej Singh alias Kala of Alike village near Dabwali in Sirsa district of Haryana, Amrik Singh of Bhikhi in Mansa and Avtar Singh of Messi Majra village near Kurukshetra, also in Haryana.

Earlier, a Talwandi Sabo court had declared these three accused as proclaimed offenders (POs) as they failed to join the investigation.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Bathinda, Dr Nanak Singh, said “They have written letters to the deputy commissioner of Mansa, Sirsa and Kurkshetra asking them to provide them with property details of the three accused. After receiving the details, they will initiate further action to attach their properties.”

The SSP said they will seek information regarding the bank accounts of the accused and would get them sealed. He also claimed that special teams are continuously conducting raids to arrest the accused.

It is pertinent to mention that seven persons including five children, were killed and others seriously injured in a car blast in Maur Mandi on January 31 as soon as the Congress candidate from Maur, Harminder Singh Jassi, ended his election rally barely four days ahead of the polling for the state Assembly elections. Jassi, a relative of the controversial Sirsa-based Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, escaped with minor injuries in the incident. He was in a Toyota Fortuner.

The vacant car, a Maruti Alto, bore a false registration number. It was thrown up into the air up to a height of 15-20 feet and fell, injuring many. The explosion occurred barely 5-10 metres from where Jassi had addressed the rally outside the Congress office.

The police has stated that the accused, Gurtej Singh Kala, was in-charge of the Dera workshop, where a Maruti 800 car, used in the blasts, was allegedly modified, while Amrik reportedly was a security guard of the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Avtar was an electrician, who allegedly helped in fixing batteries used in the bomb device fitted in the car.

The slow pace of the probe in the case earlier and the failure of the police in arresting the three accused till date even after the passing of nearly two years has disappointed people.