New Delhi: Secret tunnels, bodies of people without records and an illegal explosives factory were, among other things, discovered as forensics and police officials completed the mammoth sanitisation exercise of the 600-acre campus of Dera Sacha Sauda, whose chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been sentenced to 20 years for raping two sadhvis (women ascetics).
The search was conducted under the supervision of Court Commissioner AKS Pawar appointed by Punjab and Haryana High Court. Forty-one paramilitary companies, four Army columns, a swift action team, and a dog squad were deployed for the search of the Dera.
According to Haryana’s Public Relations Department Deputy Director Satish Mehra, one secret tunnel was found inside the Dera which linked Ram Rahim’s residence with the hostel of the female disciples.
Fibre tunnel
Another fibre tunnel was also found inside Ram Rahim’s room. On the second floor of the same room, the search team found an AK-47 magazine cover.
“An empty box of AK 47 cartridges, 84 cartons of fire crackers and chemicals from the illegal factory, besides hundreds of pairs of shoes, designer clothing and caps, were also found,” Mehra said.
Besides, no proper record of dead bodies being sent from the hospital inside the Dera was maintained.
The sanitisation exercise was conducted two weeks after the Dera chief was convicted and jailed by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court for raping two woman ascetics.
Mehra informed that a health department team detected irregularities in the implementation of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act by the Dera. It is believed illegal abortions were carried out inside the Dera.
Luxury car
A luxurious Lexus car without a number plate and an Outside Broadcasting (OB) van has also been found during search operations.
“Computer hard disk drives, an unregistered Lexus car, an OB van, Rs7,000 of demonetised currency, Rs12,000 cash and some pharma medicines without labels or a brand name, a walkie-talkie set were also seized,” Mehra said.
Interestingly, the Dera has a township of its own, with schools, a sports village, a hospital, a shopping mall and a cinema hall. It also has a ‘seven-star MSG resort’ with replicas of the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Kremlin and Disney World inside.
Plastic coins
Shops inside the Dera have ‘sach’ (truth) prefixed to their names and give out plastic coins to customers if they are unable to tender change in Indian rupees. The coins can be used to buy items at Dera shops later.
One side of the coin carries symbols of all the four major religions in India — Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism. The words ‘Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera Hi Aasra, Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa’ are inscribed on them.
