By IANS
Chandigarh : Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh finds himself in a fresh controversy with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Wednesday filing a status report in the Punjab and Haryana High Court accusing him in two cases of murder and one case of rape.
The dera chief has been slapped with two charges of murder and conspiracy and one charge of rape. The CBI alleged that a "sadhvi" (woman follower) of the dera had been raped in the premises of the sect headquarters in Sirsa (Haryana), about 300 km from here.
CBI's standing counsel Rajan Gupta confirmed that the charges had been levelled against the dera chief.
Ten other dera functionaries and followers have been named in the two murder cases, CBI deputy inspector general M. Narayan said.
While dera manager Ranjit Singh was murdered in July 2002, Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati was murdered in November 2001.
The chargesheet in this connection was filed by the CBI in a special court in Ambala, 45 km from here, Monday night.
The chargesheet against the dera chief and other functionaries was filed just hours before the July 31 deadline set by the high court.
The CBI Wednesday filed its status report before the high court bench comprising justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Ajay Lamba here.
The special court judge in Ambala has fixed the next hearing in this case here Aug 31. The dera chief and others will have to be present before the court to hear the charges against them.
A dera spokesman refused to say anything about the CBI chargesheet, saying that he would comment after he had seen it.
There were allegations that former dera follower and a close aide of the sect chief, Ranjit Singh, was murdered by dera followers in July 2002 as he had highlighted the wrongdoings inside the dera headquarters, including the sexual exploitation of women followers by top people of the sect.
Five dera followers were chargesheeted by the CBI in a court this June for this murder.
The names of the dera chief and others also cropped up in the murder of Chhatrapati, who had reported the alleged wrongdoings inside the sprawling dera campus near Sirsa town.
The 'sadhvi' and other women who were reportedly sexually exploited by top dera functionaries had initially raised their voices against it but were forced out of the sect campus and intimidated so that they remained silent. The CBI has recorded the statements of several 'sadhvis'.
A former driver of the dera chief, Khatta Singh, spilled the beans in all these cases by recording his statement before a magistrate in a court here earlier this year.
The latest development is likely to put the dera chief, the sect management and the Congress-ruled Haryana government in an embarrassing position as the dera chief has been avoiding legal procedures so far, including his questioning in these cases.
The dera godman, who supported the Congress in the February assembly elections in neighbouring Punjab, enjoys Z-plus security cover from the Haryana police after he got embroiled in a major controversy with the Sikh community after portraying himself like 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh in May this year.
This led to violence in Punjab and Haryana with the Sikh community demanding his arrest and announcing complete boycott of the sect in Punjab. Following the violence, a court in Bathinda (Punjab) had issued a warrant against him.
In that case, the dera chief went through the legal formality of being "arrested" and then "bailed out" at his headquarters in Sirsa Monday evening. A team of the Punjab police had arrived from Bathinda to complete the legal formality.
The police team confiscated his passport and made him officially join investigation. There was tension among dera followers after the police team arrived to "arrest" him.
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