CBI to file chargesheet against Dera chief on Aug 23

Facing spurt of flake from all quarters over the recent Dera-Sikh controversy, the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh once again gearing to face the next trouble. The trouble about which it is being said that a spate of controversies were deliberately generated by him to divert the attention of the people/authority from the prime issues which he was facing since 1999.

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This time Gurmeet Singh is facing wrath of authority, the Central Bureau of Investigation. The Dera Chief has been directed by the CBI to be appear-in-person in the CBI court on August 23 to hear the chargesheet in connection with the complaint involving rape charges against him by a sadhvi (female follower) in 1999.

A special CBI Judge A K Verma on Saturday ordered the framing of rape charges against Gurmeet Ram Rahim on August 23 in his presence. The CBI had booked the Dera Chief under Sections 376 (Rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) of the IPC.

The CBI on Saturday produced a number of statements depicting sexual harassment and exploitation of several sadhvis of the Dera Sacha Sauda in the court. Dera chief was not present in the court owing to illness.

His black deeds of the past would be unwrapped layer by layer on August 23 and the subsequent hearing as the CBI would not only frame chargesheet against him in a rape case, but a detailed pronouncement of charges comprising Ranjeet Singh and Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chatterpati murder case will also be heard.

Ram Chander Chatterpati, the editor of a hindi news daily “Pura Sach” was murdered on the alleged instigation of Dera chief after he published a letter of a sadhvi depicting allegation of rape charges against her and 50 more female followers in the Dera Sacha Sauda premises.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been hitting the headlines from time to time since last year. First he generated controversies by wearing a dress similar to the 10th Sikh Guru allegedly with the intention of copying him. The sectarian violence between Dera and Sikhs emerged out of the controversial dress up causing serious law and order problem in various parts of northern India.

However, he has said that he respects all Gurus and had not done with the intention of hurting sentiments of any particular religion. Arrest warrant against him was issued on May 20 last year by a Punjab district court in connection with a criminal case against him registered under Section 295-A of the IPC.

A year later on June 20, 2008, a security guard of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was found involved in shooting a Sikh member of the public in a Mumbai suburb, Mulund. The incident was followed by a widespread violence and near about breakdown of the public infrastructure in the adjoining areas.

On Sunday, the Dera chief urged the media to be mediator to pacify the stern relations between the two community-Dera and Sikh. He said he was ready to resolve the Dera-Sikh row and asked the media to diffuse the situation.