A special court in Ambala will hear arguments on Tuesday on framing of charges against five members of Dera Sacha Sauda, which is embroiled in a standoff with Sikhs, for having allegedly killed one of its managers in July 2002.
NEW DELHI: A special court in Ambala will hear arguments on Tuesday on framing of charges against five members of Dera Sacha Sauda, which is embroiled in a standoff with Sikhs, for having allegedly killed one of its managers in July 2002.
The CBI is investigating three cases against Dera members including alleged sexual exploitation of "sadhvis", murder of a journalist and killing of Ranjit Singh, a former manager of the Dera.
The CBI had filed its first chargesheet in the case on November 26, 2005 and a supplementary chargesheet on February one this year against five people Kishan Lal, Sabdal Singh, Avtar Singh, Inder Sen and Jasbir Singh.
The agency, which is investigating the case on orders from Punjab and Haryana High Court, claimed the accused Kishan Lal, who is one of the "prabhandhak" (managers) at the Dera Sachha Sauda, headed by Gurmeet Singh, on the outskirts of Sirsa, was allegedly involved in the murder of Ranjit Singh in July 2002.
The CBI took up the case following orders from the High Court, which had received an anonymous complaint alleging widespread sexual abuse of "sadhvis" in the Dera, a religious site.
According to CBI, Kishan Lal was arrested on August 31 and following his disclosure, the agency recovered the car and the weapon allegedly used in the murder of Ranjit Singh.
Singh, who was in the 10-member powerful committee looking after the functions of the Dera, was murdered on July 10, 2002 as the inmates believed that he was behind the circulation of the anonymous letter in May 2002, according to the agency.
The accused, during interrogation, has also told the CBI that Singh was killed because he did not seek the forgiveness of Maharaj, who claims to be the reincarnation of God, CBI sources claimed.
Two persons -- Jasbir Singh and Constable Sabdil Singh -- are already in judicial custody in connection with the murder of Ranjit Singh. While the first accused is a staunch follower of the Dera, Singh is the bodyguard of Maharaja Gurmeet Singh.
During the investigations so far, the CBI has questioned 175 witnesses, which includes sadhvis and sadhus living in and out of Dera township.
CBI has announced a reward of Rs one lakh for any person who gave specific information or evidence relating to the alleged sexual exploitation of sadhvis in the Dera and murders of Ranjit Singh and Ram Chander Chatterpati, a journalist who was murdered in October 2002 after he wrote about the alleged sexual exploitation.
The High Court, after receiving the anonymous complaint, had asked the District Judge of Sirsa to look into the matter discreetly, which in turn reverted back to the High Court saying that there appeared to be some substance in the complaint and it needed to be further investigated.
The matter was later referred to the CBI for a detailed inquiry.
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