Dera Sacha Sauda’s Honeypreet Singh granted bail in Panchkula violence case

On Wednesday, a Panchkula Court granted bail to Honeypreet Insan, jailed Dera Chief Ram Rahim’s close aide and adopted daughter, who was accused of inciting violence in Panchkula in 2017. Earlier this month, the court had dropped the sedition charges against her and 35 other Dera members. Hoenypreet had then moved her bail plea on Wednesday morning and was granted bail.

After Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was convicted of rape in August 2017, riots broke out in Panchkula. Nearly 30 people were killed and over 200 injured in the violence. Honeypreet, along with several other Dera followers, were booked by Panchkula police for inciting violence on the charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy.

According to the charge sheet filed by the police, the conspiracy to spread violence was hatched by Honeypreet and the Dera management committee at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

41 of the 45 members of the Dera management committee were arrested by Haryana police last year. Some of them, including Dera spokesperson Aditya Insan, were declared as ‘proclaimed offenders’ by a Haryana court.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim was found guilty of raping two of his minor devotes and is now serving a 20- year sentence in Sunaria Jail of Rohtak.

Recently, a doctor, also a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda, moved a petition to Haryana and Punjab high court seeking more security for Ram Rahim. He alleged that the chief was denied basic rights and he was not allowed to meet anyone or make any phone calls from the jail. The doctor also alleged that Ram Rahim was being tortured physically and mentally. However, Punjab and Haryana High Court are yet to take up this petition for hearing.