5 Haryana Cops, Part of Gurmeet Ram Rahim's Security, Dismissed

Chandigarh: Five Haryana Police personnel, who were part of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s security, have been dismissed from services, soon after it was reported that they had planned an extensive conspiracy to whisk the convicted godman away from custody.

Haryana DGP BS Sandhu said on Thursday, the five has been removed from services on charges of sedition and attempt to murder.

Meanwhile, the situation remained peaceful in the state on Thursday.

Sedition and attempt to murder charges were slapped against seven persons, including the five Haryana Police personnel. They were part of the Dera chief's security when he arrived at Panchkula to appear before a CBI court on Friday.

They allegedly tried to free the Dera chief when he was brought outside the Panchkula Court complex, after a special CBI court convicted him in a 15-year-old rape case, the police had said earlier.

“We have dismissed five policemen who were part of the Dera chief's security,” DGP Sandhu said.

According to officials, the arrested police personnel were in the ranks of sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector, head constable and constable.

A key Dera Sacha Sauda functionary, who was also booked on sedition charge, has been arrested by the police on Thursday, the DGP said.

He said the accused Dera functionary, identified as Dhiman Insan, has been sent to seven-day police remand by a court in Panchkula.

Sedition charges were slapped against two other Dera functionaries earlier on the basis of a media report, of which Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken cognizance.

The conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a 2002 rape case had triggered arson and violence in Haryana that claimed 38 lives and injured over 250 people since Friday. While 32 people had died in the violence in Panchkula, six people died at Sirsa, where the sect headquarters is located.

Peace prevailed in neighbouring Punjab, which had witnessed incidents of violence in Malwa region on Friday. The court then sentenced the Dera chief to 20-year imprisonment on Monday.

Though no untoward incident was reported in Haryana and Punjab, the security personnel continued to remain on alert, officials said.

Fifty-year-old Ram Rahim Singh is lodged in the Sunariya Jail in Rohtak district, where a thick blanket of security has been thrown around.