Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of 2 women
Five Haryana policemen, who were part of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's security and were charged with sedition, have been dismissed from service, State DGP B S Sandhu said today. Meanwhile, the situation remained peaceful in the state.
Sedition and attempt to murder charges were slapped against seven persons, including five police personnel, who 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.
The arrested police personnel were in the ranks of sub-inspector, assistant sub-inspector, head constable and constable, officials had earlier said.
A key Dera functionary, who was booked on sedition charge, has also been arrested by the police today, the DGP said.
He said the accused Dera functionary, identified as Dhiman Insaan, has been sent to a seven-day police remand by a court in Panchkula.
A sedition charge was slapped against two key Dera functionaries earlier on the basis of a media report, of which Punjab and Haryana High Court had also taken cognizance.
The DGP said the situation in the state was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.
The conviction of the Dera head in a 2002 rape case had triggered arson and violence in Haryana that claimed 38 lives and injured over 250 people. 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 also, which had witnessed incidents of violence in the Malwa region, after the conviction of the Dera chief on Friday.
A special CBI court in Panchkula had sentenced the Dera chief to 20-year imprisonment in the rape case on Monday.
Though no untoward incident was reported in Haryana and Punjab, the security personnel continued to remain on an alert to prevent any untoward incident, officials said. 50-year-old Ram Rahim Singh is lodged in the Sunaria jail in Rohtak district, where a thick blanket of security has been thrown around.