The police claimed that they have ample leads to conclude that the plan to trigger off riots if the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was declared guilty of rape had been finalised a week in advance to the court verdict on the godman. The investigators added that Gurmeet's foster daughter Honeypreet Insan masterminded the riots and she also pumped in Rs 1.25 crore to incite violence.
The disclosure comes just a day after investigating officers interrogated Honeypreet on Thursday and felt that she was a "tough nut to crack." She had reportedly refused to answer to their questions in detail. However, the Panchkula police on Friday claimed that Insan plotted the violence and there was a clear plan behind it.
Panchkula cops say Dera violence was pre-planned; Honeypreet keeps mum to probe questions
Riots and arson erupted on August 25 in several parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi just after the Dera chief was declared guilty of raping two of his devotees. The violence claimed 38 lives and left several others injured.
Honeypreet behind dera violence
The Panchkula police revealed that the plan to trigger violence if the court's ruling went against Singh was hatched at a meeting on August 17 at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa. According to the police, Insan chaired the meeting held to chalk out the plans.
Honeypreet had reportedly refused to coopearate with the investigators when she was grilled on Thursday. She either kept silent or answered "I don't know" to most of the 40-odd questions from the officers. However, the police said that they would continue their efforts to extract information from her.
"A meeting was organised in Dera in which the conspiracy to incite violence was hatched. This is a very sensitive issue and we have got important leads from Honeypreet which we cannot share at this time. Honeypreet has said that she is innocent but we will interrogate her," Panchkula Police Commissioner A S Chawla was quoted as saying by India Today.
The police are also working on the information revealed by Singh's private secretary Rakesh Kumar Arora and his chief security officer Preetam. Arora and Preetam, who had been arrested from Sirsa have reportedly revealed that Insan provided funding to the sect's supporters in Panchkula. She had sanctioned Rs 1.25 crore ahead of verdict day.
Meanwhile, the Haryana police is planning to conduct a narco test on Insan, who is in remand custody for six days.
