Bail for Dera chief till Oct 15

Ambala (Haryana), Oct 4 (IANS) A special CBI court here Thursday extended the bail of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh till Oct 15. He faces two charges of murder and one of rape.

Thousands of followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect assembled here Thursday as their chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh reached a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court to face two charges of murder conspiracy and one of rape.

Tension built up as an estimated 125,000 sect followers laid virtual siege in this Haryana town, about 45 km from Chandigarh, forcing the closure of several schools and colleges. Defying Section 144 that bans the assembly of five or more people at one place, they gathered at the HUDA ground, just one km from the court campus.

The sect chief arrived at the court complex around 10 a.m. in a cavalcade of cars, including Haryana police and private security. He was sitting on the front seat of his bullet-proof Lexus luxury SUV, dressed in his traditional white robes and headgear.

Some of his supporters were able to reach the court premises despite the security arrangement.

The Dera chief is one of the accused in the charge sheet filed by the CBI in the court here in August this year. He has been charged of conspiracy in the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh in July 2002 and Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati in November 2001.

The Dera chief has also been accused of raping a "sadhvi" (female follower) inside his sprawling and fortified sect campus near Sirsa town in Haryana.