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CBI Court orders framing of rape
charges against
Sirsa fraudster
Rapist baba told to hear charges in person on August 23
WSN Network
 AMBALA: Nemesis
seems to be fast catching up with rape and murder accused Sirsa Dera
head who has been successfully fooling a large number of his
disciples, styling himself as a godman.
Special CBI
Judge A.K. Verma on Saturday ordered the framing of rape charges
against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, asking him to be present on August 23 to
formally hear the chargesheet in connection with the 1999 case
involving a female follower of the sect.
India's federal
investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation which is
roughly comparable to FBI, had booked the Dera head under Sections
376 (rape), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insulting the
modesty of a woman) of the IPC.
The dera head
has been involved in such activities much before the opposition from
the Sikh community came into the picture. It was, many have argued,
in a desperate attempt to shift attention from his black deeds that
he deliberately provoked the Sikhs into proactive resistance, thus
polticising what were actually a plethora of criminal cases.
At the next
hearing on August 23, besides the detailed pronouncement of charges,
arguments on the charges in the Ranjit murder case against the Dera
head will also be heard.
The Dera head,
who is facing charges in connection with the murders of Sirsa-based
jour nalist Ram Chander Chatterpati and Dera inmate Ranjit Singh,
and the alleged sexual ext ploitation of ‘sadhavis', was not present
in the court on Saturday. Defence counsel Surya Parkash moved an
application seeking his exemption on medical grounds.
The dear head
has often made his appearance in the court an issue and seeks
exemptions all the time.
Earlier, the CBI
counsel had argued that the agency had collected sufficient evidence
to convict the Dera head. In the court, the CBI narrated the
sequence of events leading to sexual assault on ‘sadhvis'.
Meanwhile, Dera
manager Inder Sain, also accused in the Ranjit murder case, has
moved a bail plea, which would be taken up on August 5. The
administration here had made elaborate security arrangements for the
hearing.
28
July, 2008
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