New Delhi: Just days before a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CB() court in Panchkula is scheduled to pronounce its verdict in a murder case against Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the Haryana government has suspended a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) for allowing four visitors to meet the self-proclaimed godman at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi with permission. The Dera chief is already serving sentences in a rape case and a murder case.The DSP, Shamsher Singh, had been tasked with overseeing the security of the Dera head, who is lodged at Rohtak’s Sunaria jail and had visited AIIMS on July 13. During Ram Rahim’s visit to the premier medical institute, the DSP is alleged to have allowed some people to meet him despite accusations against the Dera chief of intimidating his victims and their relatives.Indeed, on several occasions, the court was told that granting parole or visitation rights to the Dera chief could impact the law and order situation. It may be recalled that 36 people were killed in the violence and police firing in Panchkula following Ram Rahim’s conviction in a rape case in August 2017.Realising the gravity of the lapse, Haryana additional chief secretary Rajeev Arora wrote in the suspension order:“The Governor of Haryana is pleased to place the services of Sh. Shamsher Singh, HPS, DSP/Meham under suspension with immediate effect. During suspension period he will be entitled to subsistence allowance as admissible under rule-83 of Haryana Civil Services (General) Rules-2016. During suspension his headquarter will be in the office of DGP Haryana, Panchkula and he will not leave the station without the prior permission of the competent authority.”The Haryana Police has also recommended departmental action against Singh for “deliberate lapses”.In October 2020, Ram Rahim was granted parole for a day to visit a Gurgaon hospital – where his ailing mother was admitted. At the time, the son of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, for whose murder Rahim was convicted, had objected to the move. Anshul Chhatrapati said though efforts were being made for his parole, the Rohtak and Sirsa police had opposed the move on the grounds of law and order. However, he had expressed apprehension that the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP-JJP government was preparing the ground for his parole in the future too.Meanwhile, even as a Special CBI court was preparing to pass the verdict in the murder of Ranjeet Singh by Ram Rahim in 2002, the victim’s son, Jagseer Singh, has moved the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking the transfer of the case to another CBI court in Punjab, Haryana or Chandigarh.In his petition, Jagseer said the CBI chargesheet had stated that Ram Rahim believed that Ranjit Singh, a resident of Kurukshetra, was behind the circulation of an anonymous letter that alleged that female followers of the Dera were sexually exploited. Subsequently, he said, his father was murdered by the Dera head.However, the victim’s son sought the transfer citing the presence of a specific CBI public prosecutor, not directly linked to the case, during the trial. This was “most suspicious”, he said. He insisted that rather than assist the special public prosecutor appointed particularly for the case, that CBI public prosecutor appeared to be interfering with the trial.
