E-Paper
Dera head’s bhog event organised under heavy police deployment
Dabwali superintendent of police Deepti Garg said 16 companies of security personnel, including Haryana armed police and rapid action force, were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
The ‘antim ardas’ (bhog ceremony) of Bahadur Chand Vakil, head of Dera Jagmalwali (Mastana Shah Balochistani Ashram), was performed on the dera premises in presence of a large number of his followers amid heavy police deployment on Thursday. The name of his successor was not announced.
After his death on August 1, two factions led by Sufi Singer Mahatma Birender Singh and Gurpreet Singh were at loggerheads to take over the dera which has followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini also attended the ceremony. Dabwali superintendent of police (SP) Deepti Garg said 16 companies of security personnel, including Haryana armed police and rapid action force, were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
Following the demise of Vakil, dera follower and Sufi Singer Birender Singh had claimed that Vakil had named him as the next dera head in his will. However, the other faction accused him of hatching a conspiracy to kill Vakil and not informing his followers about his illness, besides not allowing them to meet the deceased.
A day earlier, Birender Singh announced that he would not take charge as the dera head until a probe is conducted and truth is not revealed. However, a dera follower, Devraj of Sirsa, told the media that majority of followers were not ready to accept Birender Singh as the successor. He demanded a CBI probe into the death of Vakil.
Bahadur Chand Vakil was born on December 10, 1944, at Chautala village in Sirsa. He had completed his early education in his native place and later studied at Dayanand College in Hisar.
He joined the dera in 1968 and was appointed its head in August 1998.
