Even as Haryana Police is in the dock for its failure to nab Honeypreet Insan for 38 days, Chief Minister Manohar lal on Thursday raised serious questions over the role of Punjab Police in shielding her and not informing about her whereabouts to his State police.
Apparently, triggering a blame game with neighboring Congress ruled Punjab Government, the Chief Minister while talking to the mediapersons after holding a meeting with top Police brass in Panchkula, said that Punjab Police should have informed the Haryana Police about her whereabouts earlier.
Holding the Punjab Police responsible for delaying information on jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s adopted daughter Honeypreet before her arrest on October 3, Manohar lal said, “…All this happened through Punjab Police. She (Honeypreet) is taken to Punjab’s Bathinda today for investigation and more things will be revealed, he said.
On Punjab police role in helping Honeypreet to escape from Haryana Police for over a month, Manohar lal said, “Their people are nabbed and cars are impounded. Dal mein kuchh kala hai (Something is fishy about the whole affair)."
When asked about political involvement from Punjab in the entire conspiracy, he said that it would not be right to comment on it as the investigations are ongoing.
There are allegations that a senior Punjab Congress leader, whose daughter is married to Ram Rahim's son, has helped Honeypreet evade the arrest for over a month by using the heavy security cover he enjoys from Punjab Police.
While Manohar lal has blamed Punjab Police for delay in Honeypreet’s arrest, questions are also being raised on intelligence wing of his state police, which remained clueless about her whereabouts for 38 days. The police had been on Honeypreet’s trail for over a month and raids were conducted in Nepal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.
Priyanka Taneja (36), alias Honeypreet, who topped a list of 43 people ‘wanted’ by the state police in connection with the violence, remained fugitive for 38 days after she was booked on charge of sedition. Her name had been included in the same FIR in which other Dera functionaries Aditya Insan and Surinder Dhiman, among others, had been booked for allegedly inciting violence and arson on August 25.
On the day of Honeypreet’s arrest and her interview to media channels before arrest,several senior police officers in Haryana had alleged that Punjab Police is involved in the entire conspiracy and arranged for her interview besides shielding her for so long.
It was also reported that Honeypreet had surrendered in Mohali and was later handed over to Haryana Police by the police of neighboring state.
The reports were however refuted by the Panchkula Police Commissioner AS Chawla claiming that it was not a surrender but she was arrested by Haryana Police from the Zirakpur-Patiala road in Punjab while travelling in a Toyota Innova alongwith a woman.
Punjab Government had also rejected reports that Honeypreet Insan was in Punjab Police custody or was, in any way, being shielded by their Government.
Meanwhile, Haryana former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has hit out at Manohar lal saying that the Chief Minister is blaming the police of neighboring state to hide the failure of his own government.
The BJP led Haryana Government is already under fire from various quarters due to its failure to prevent violence on August 25 in various parts of the state after conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in rape cases. 41 people had died while more than 260 were injured in the incidents of violence and arson in Haryana after Ram Rahim’s conviction.
This is not the first time that Manohar lal has blamed the Punjab Government for his government’s mishandling of dera violence issue. Earlier, the Haryana Chief Minister had claimed that lakhs of dera sect supporters who had gathered in Panchkula before August 25 CBI Court verdict had come from various places of Punjab and neighboring government did nothing to stop them.