Panchkula
(Haryana), October 13: Even though it took an inordinately long period of 15
years to ultimately bring Dera Sachha Sauda’s Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s cases
to a logical conclusion with his conviction in the last of the three cases, and
justice to those wronged, CBI officials couldn’t resist chest-beating.
Even though
the special CBI court has deferred the sentencing of Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four
others in a murder case till October 18, the conviction is complete in the 2002
murder of Ranjit Singh, the Dera Manager whom Dera chief had suspected for his role
in the circulation of an anonymous letter, which narrated how women were being
sexually exploited by the Dera head.
Lauding the
role of its officials, who worked together and relentlessly for years, Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday said that the diligence and teamwork
of its officers finally bore fruit as a special court found Gurmeet Ram Rahim
guilty of murder and rape.
For former
CBI SP Satish Dagar, who was part of the investigating team on the case for about
15 years, against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief bore fruit today, with his
conviction.
Dagar, who headed
the investigation team in the rape case, and was one of the investigating
officers in journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and Dera manager's murder cases, was hailed
for his hard and dedicated labour.
The rape and journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati's murder cases had ended in conviction too, while all accused,
including Ram Rahim, were held guilty in Dera manager Ranjit Singh's murder case also. He
was among the officers who interrogated Ram Rahim for three hours.
Dagar says, “He
remained deceptive and even tried to use influence like any other criminal.”
“I would
have been very happy had the Dera follower’s father been alive today. His only
son was murdered. His daughter was raped. The trial should have been carried
out faster,” added Dagar.
“We gave
them assurances that if they speak the truth, the law would protect them.
Earlier, they were not sure about the outcome even if they cooperated. A number
of them, including Khatta Singh, were provided security,” he says about the
case and its twists.
Referring to
the rape case, he said there were more victims but only two came forward. One
of them was Dera manager's sister. Dagar said that he was not the one who
could be influenced.
“I want to
thank my seniors, including the then director Ashwani Kumar, special director
ML Sharma, SSP Satpal Singh, and Inspector Rajesh Khajuria. CBI counsels HPS
Verma and VK Sharma did hard work. It was the teamwork that led to his
conviction in all the cases.”