On Sunday The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Haryana police arrested Dr. Mahinder Pal Singh alias Mahender Insan, a doctor who has been accused of performing castration on Dera followers, as per reports. The SIT is keen in looking into the violence that had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa on 25 August after Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's confidence.
According to the report, “Mahender was a close assistant to Ram Rahim and was among those seven persons who were booked in the case registered at Sector 5 police station in Panchkula. Mahender was snatched from the Dera headquarters in Sirsa. He was escaped after a case was registered against him on 28 August. He was reportedly hiding inside the Dera complex where the police had conducted a search operation in September last year.”
Also as per the report, “Mahender was seen at the spot just before the violence and was also among those who attended the action plan meeting called by Honeypreet Insan on 17 August.”
Earlier in October according to a report, “Five of the Dera supporters in police custody had confessed that Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of Ram Rahim, had masterminded and funded the Panchkula violence.”
Mahender is also a close companion of Dera functionary Aditya Insan, who is alleged to be a key sinner behind the mob violence on 25 August. Aditya has been on the run since registration of a case against him. Haryana police in December decided to double the reward money from Rs one lakh to two lakh for information leading to the arrest of Aditya.
Most of the jailed sect chief's confidants including Honeypreet, who was on the run after his conviction, were arrested as Haryana police registered 173 FIRs with nearly 1,000 Dera followers as accused. On 3 January, Ram Rahim Singh's relative and former MLA Harminder Singh Jassi appeared before the SIT. Assistant commissioner of Panchkula police heading the SIT had asked Jassi to appear before it earlier, but the former Congress legislator had requested for more time.
Haryana remained on edge after the Sirsa-headquartered sector chief was convicted by a special CBI court, generating boundless violence and setting the fire, mainly in Panchkula and Sirsa, leaving 41 dead and scores injured. The Dera chief has now lodged in Sunaria jail in Rohtak, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two disciples.
