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Dera Sauda's Gurmeet Ram Rahim
appears before
CBI court,
gets more bail
WSN Network
AMBALA: Dera
Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who was recently named as prime
accused by the CBI after a detailed court ordered investigation into
rape and murder cases, appeared before the Special CBI court here on
Thursday amid extensive security arrangements. The court extended
the interim bail given to Gurmeet Ram Rahim, also an accused in case
of hurting the sentiments of the Sikhs, till the next date of
hearing on October 15.
Dera Sirsa
already has a Z plus security, the highest level of security
provided in India,
equivalent to the Prime Minister and so on (except that the latter
are protected by the SPG personnel) . Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who had
imitated the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind SIngh ji, and often uses
the Sikh lexicon to make mockery of Sikhism, reached the court at 10
am along with some of the top functionaries of the sect.
Prohibitory
orders were imposed around the court premises and Haryana Police had
made elaborate security arrangements. Additional force had been
called from neighbouring district to maintain law and order.
Thousands of
Dera followers camped at the Haryana Urban Development Authority
ground near the court, clearly an intimidatory tactic. The courts
normally take umbrage at anyone coming to for a hearing with a large
cavalcade or hype but in this case everyone gulped the throngs of
thousands that Sirsa-based rape accused had brought swarming on to
the roads.
Gurmeet Ram was
present in the court in connection with the murder cases of Dera
manager Ranjit Singh and Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander
Chatrapati and a sexual harassment case of a woman disciple.
A day earlier,
the Supreme Court of India had declined to quash the interim bail
granted to him in the same cases. All cases are filed by the CBI.
The family of the victim had gone to the top court, but Justices
Ashok Bhan and V S Sirpurkar dismissed the Special Leave Petition
saying the accused was entitled to an interim bail as the CBI had
not arrested him during the investigations. Incidentally, throughout
the probe period, the CBI was under pressure not to arrest him, a
fact that is hardly a secret in Punjab or
Haryana.
The Punjab
and Haryana High Court had granted interim bail till the Ambala Sessions
Court decides the plea for regular bail.
10 October, 2007
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