A day after the Punjab and Haryana Court appointed retired Sessions Judge Anil KS Pawar as court commissioner to oversee the sanitisation process of Dera Sacha Sauda premises at Sirsa, Haryana Government has made adequate preparations to carry out the search operation.
Four columns of Army, more than 40 companies of paramilitary forces, personnel of state police have been deployed around Sirsa dera headquarters. Bomb disposal and dog squads have also been stationed near the Sirsa headquarters.
The state police alongwith security forces and other departments of revenue and taxation are prepared for the sanitization process of Dera Sacha Sauda premises at Sirsa, said Haryana DGP BS Sandhu while talking to the mediapersons on Wednesday.
As per the HC directions, the process will be videographed and adequate security arrangements have been made to carry out the sanitization process smoothly. Various teams have been constituted for the entire operation, said Sandhu.
Rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s dera headquarters is spread in two campuses including the old and new dera at Sirsa. The sprawling Dera headquarters which is on over 800-acre land houses a stadium, hospital, educational institutions, a resort, residential complex, markets, and other infrastructure. Huge bungalows of the sect chief and his family members are also located inside the premises.
After the conviction of Ram Rahim, there are several allegations including huge cache of arms present inside the dera and human skeletons buried inside the sect premises.
Curfew in the area around the dera premises was relaxed for one hour on Wednesday to enable people inside and outside the sect campus to buy essential items.
Sandhu said that the local administration and security forces are awaiting the arrival of court commissioner AKS Pawar, who will also hold a meeting with the concerned officials before the beginning of the sanitization process.
The search operation is likely to begin on Thursday afternoon under the supervision of retired judge AKS Pawar. The DGP said that there is complete peace in Haryana since August 25. There are 131 companies of paramilitary forces deployed in the state, he said.
On the “lookout notices” against Ram Rahim’s adopted daughter Honeypreet Insaan and dera spokesman Aditya Insan, Sandhu said that we are hopeful that both will be arrested soon. Haryana police is in touch with various states police and search operation to nab them is in process, he said.
The police is investigating the input that a whopping Rs 5 crore was brought to Panchkula ahead of the court’s verdict in Ram Rahim case on August 25, said the DGP.
About the viral videos on social media that claims that Baba Ram Rahim lodged in the jail is not real, Sandhu said that all such claims are fake.
After the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief on August 25, violence had broken out in Panchkula and Sirsa, leaving atleast 40 dead and more than 260 injured. 34 persons had died in Panchkula while six in Sirsa.
A special CBI court in Panchkula had sentenced the Dera chief to 20-year imprisonment in a rape case on August 28. 50-year-old Ram Rahim Singh is lodged in the Sunaria jail in Rohtak district, where a thick blanket of security has been thrown around.
Meanwhile, Haryana Jails Minister Krishan lal Panwar said that Gurmeet Ram Rahim will remain in Sunaria jail at Rohtak and will not be shifted from there.
On the issue that prisoners in Rohtak’s Sonaria jail are suffering due to several restrictions since Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was brought there, the Minister denied such allegations.
Sirsa administration issue public notice for compensation
District Administration, Sirsa has issued a public notice to compensate the loss during violence in the Dera case. The victims will have to report their losses within 15 days to the district administration. Assessment of the loss will be sent to the government for compensation, said an official spokesman.
He said that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the administration to quickly assess the damage caused to property during the violence. For this, the district administration has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Additional Deputy Commissioner.
This committee would accept all applications pertaining to the loss in a prescribed proforma. Based on this, the report would be sent to the state government so that the victims can be compensated for their losses. In addition to individual, claim of loss can also be filed by any head of the departments, boards, corporations and other public institutions, said he.