Chandigarh: Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others were named in a case relating to theft of the Sikh’s holy book Guru Granth Sahib, police said Monday. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was named two days after the arrest of seven Sirsa dera followers by a Punjab Police special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 desecration of religious texts. They were held from Faridkot.
Five of them were remanded in two-day police custody while two were let off when their counsels claimed they had already secured bail. Later, the two joined investigation, said police.
After their questioning, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, who is currently lodged in the Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, and the three others were named in the FIR No 63, police informed.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Jalandhar Range) Ranbir Singh Khatra, who is leading the SIT, said the three others booked along with Ram Rahim are the dera’s national committee members. Khatra said the Dera Sacha Sauda chief was named as a conspirator.
“We have applied in a Faridkot court for the arrest warrants of the three accused who are absconding,” Khatra said. “After the arrest of three accused, he (Dera chief) will also be questioned,” the SIT head added.
The case pertaining to the theft of a ‘bir’’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from a Burj Jawahar Singh Wala gurdwara June 1, 2015 was registered at the Bajakhana police station in Faridkot. The dera chief has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two women.
A special CBI court in Panchkula had also sentenced him and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist over 16 years ago.