Dera Sacha Sauda spokesperson Dilawar Insaan, arrested for allegedly inciting violence after the conviction of its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in rape cases, was today sent to police custody for seven days by a court in Panchkula, DCP of Panchkula Manbir Singh said. Dilawar, a core member of the Dera, was arrested from Sonipat district yesterday. He had gone underground after the conviction of the Dera chief and booked under relevant sections of the IPC and for sedition.
By interrogating Dilawar, Haryana Police hopes to gather vital leads about the sect's key functionaries, including Honeypreet Insaan, the adopted daughter of Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
Haryana Director General of Police B S Sandhu said the questioning of Dilawar may help in tracing other key Dera functionaries like Honeypreet and Aditya Insaan against whom lookout notices have been issued. His interrogation could also throw light on the planning of violence and arson in Panckula and Sirsa, the police said. There was large scale violence following the sect head's conviction on August 25, which left 35 people dead in Panchkula and six in Sirsa.
Tightening its noose around the key members of the sect, Haryana police had earlier said it would soon call Dera Sacha Sauda chairperson Vipassana Insaan for questioning. Honeypreet and Aditya Insaan are still elusive. Haryana police is hopeful of nabbing them soon, presuming that they are still hiding in the country.
Police teams had been sent to other states like Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to trace the Dera functionaries in order to question them, Panchkula Police Commissioner A S Chawla said, adding, "We are chasing our targets very seriously and likely to arrest them soon."
Police are making efforts to trace Honeypreet, who calls herself as 'Papa's angel', after the questioning of another arrested functionary, Surinder Dhiman Insaan, in connection with allegedly making plans of Ram Rahim Singh's escape after he was convicted, police had earlier said.
An FIR was earlier lodged in Panchkula police station on the direction of Punjab and Haryana High Court after a statement by a newspaper reporter against Aditya Insaan and Surinder Dhiman Insaan. The duo had been booked for sedition. Police had also said they need to question Honeypreet on the basis of certain other disclosures by Surinder which made her role in the chain of events connected to the Dera issue suspicious.
Earlier, police had arrested Chamkaur Singh, the in-charge of a Dera centre at Panchkula and Dan Singh, a functionary of the sect.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in two rape cases and presently lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak.
