Haryana Police on Friday claimed that Honeypreet Insan, the adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, is not cooperating in the investigation and is misleading the police into her role in violence at Panchkula and other places after the dera chief’s conviction on August 25 in rape cases.
Panchkula Police Commissioner AS Chawla while talking to the mediaperons said that Honeypreet’s reluctant attitude has continued during the interrogation and she is not fully cooperating with the police in investigation and is evasive in her replies.
Chawla also claimed she is misleading the police. In initial interrogation, she showed ignorance… But when confronted with evidence, she started misleading the police, he said.
A day before, she was taken to a house in Bathinda, as she had claimed to have stayed there for few days in the last 38 days. However, after investigation, her claims were found to be false, said the police officer.
He said that we have evidence against her that she has a role in inciting violence after Ram Rahim’s conviction and had also sent one and a half crore rupees to Panchkula for the purpose. Investigation is going on and we are building up our case, he added.
Honeypreet along with a dera follower Sukhdeep Kaur, were arrested by Haryana Police on Tuesday and were sent to six-day police remand on Wednesday. A day before, the duo were taken to Bathinda to cross-check Honeypreet’s claims of staying there for a few days while remaining fugitive for 38 days.
On information about her hideouts, Chawla said as per the information revealed so far, she has stayed at Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi in the past over a month.
When asked about Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal’s claim of involvement of Punjab Police in shielding her, the Panchkula Police Commissioner said that we are investigating the case and if anything comes up, we will act accordingly.
Asked to comment whether name of any Punjab police officer has cropped up during the investigations so far, he said that no name has come up in the investigations so far.
One person was rounded up a day before during investigations in Bathinda and his role in helping Honeypreet is being verified, Chawla informed.
He added that efforts are on to nab other two top functionaries of the sect, Aditya Insan and Pawan Insan, who were also on the run since August 25.
Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja was arrested from neighbouring Punjab on Tuesday. The police had been on Honeypreet's trail for over a month and raids were conducted in Nepal, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.
Honeypreet, in her mid-30s, has been the closest aide of Ram Rahim for nearly a decade.
Ram Rahim has been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of over Rs 30 lakh. His conviction led to violence in Panchkula and Sirsa in Haryana, leaving 41 people dead and over 260 injured.
Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from Delhi and several places in Punjab.