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2015 ‘bir’ theft case: Production warrant issued to ‘arrest’ Ram Rahim
In its plea, the special investigation team (SIT), led by inspector general of police Surinder Pal Singh Parmar, sought the formal arrest of Ram Rahim on the basis of the statement of Pardeep Kumar, an accused in the 2015 sacrilege cases, and corroborating evidence.
Over a year after jailed Sirsa dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was named accused in a case connected with the Bargari sacrilege, a Faridkot court on Monday issued a production warrant against him for October 29.
Punjab police’s special investigation team (SIT) probing the 2015 sacrilege cases on Monday moved an application in the court of judicial magistrate Tarjani seeking a production warrant of Ram Rahim for his ‘arrest’ in a case of sacrilege wherein a ‘bir’ of Guru Granth Sahib was stolen from a gurdwara in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village of Faridkot district on June 1, 2015.
SIT-led by inspector general of police Surinder Pal Singh Parmar has said in its plea filed in the court of the judicial magistrate that the statement of a witness Pardeep Kumar and the evidence came forward in the investigation conducted by SIT is enough for the arrest of the Ram Rahim in the case of theft of a bir (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district on June 1, 2015. “The production warrant of Ram Rahim, who is currently lodged in Sunaria jail at Rohtak, is required so he can be produced in the court and formally arrested in the case,” the plea reads.
Judicial magistrate Tarjani directed the SIT to produce Ram Rahim in the court before or on October 29.
In July 2020, after the arrest of seven dera followers in a case pertaining to the theft of a ‘bir’ (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala in 2015, the SIT, led by former inspector general of police Ranbir Singh Khatra, had named Ram Rahim and the dera’s three national committee members—Sandeep Bareta, Pardeep Kler and Harsh Dhuri— as accused.
The ‘bir’ was stolen from the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village gurdwara on June 1, 2015. On October 12, 2015, torn pages of the ‘bir’ were found scattered in front of a gurdwara in the adjoining Bargari village, which had caused outrage across the state and the death of two Sikh protesters in police firing.
The SIT in its chargesheet had claimed that it was Ram Rahim who had ordered the sacrilege after a Sikh preacher had insulted his followers. “Some dera followers arrested in connection with the sacrilege case revealed that Mohinderpal Singh Bittu, who was killed in a Nabha jail in 2019, told them that the sacrilege was executed at the behest of the dera chief. During a diwan (religious congregation) on March 22, 2015, Harjinder Singh Manjhi, a Sikh preacher, asked some dera followers to remove their lockets or leave. Bittu raised the issue with Bareta, Kler and Dhuri, who saw it as an act of sacrilege and decided to take revenge. The sacrilege conspiracy was hatched thereafter,” the SIT chargesheet says.
SIT probing police firing failed to quiz Ram Rahim
In April 2019, the SIT probing the Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police firing cases had also secured orders from a Faridkot court to question Ram Rahim. However, the Sunaria jail authorities refused to let the team meet the dera head saying that permission had not been taken from the deputy commissioner. In June 2019, the SIT finally got permission from the Haryana government for questioning the dera head in jail. However, the SIT-led by retired inspector general of police Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh never went to question Ram Rahim.
