On the run, Honeypreet finally lands in police net
Arrested from ZirakpurPatiala highway by Haryana cops
Honeypreet Insan, the adopted daughter of rape convict Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was arrested on Tuesday from a highway in Punjab, more than a month after she went into hiding.
Her arrest came hours after after she appeared on multiple television channels to deny police charges of instigating the dera chief’s followers after he was sentenced to 20 years in jail. At least 41 people were killed in violence by his followers and subsequent police action.
Police said Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, was arrested along with another woman when they were travelling along the Zirakpur-Patiala highway in an SUV.
She will be produced in a local court on Wednesday, Panchkula police chief AS Chawla said.
The woman accompanying Honeypreet has been identified as Sukhdeep Kaur, a dera follower who is believed to have given shelter to ‘Papa’s Angel’ in her Bathinda home.
At least 12 police teams were deployed in and around Chandigarh since Monday after they were tipped off about her presence in the area, Chawla added.
“They found Honeypreet in an Innova car near the Nabha Sahib Gurdwara on the Zirakpur-Patiala highway, nearly 20 km from here... the woman accompanying her was driving the vehicle,” he said.
After her arrest, Honeypreet was taken to the Chandimandir police station in Panchkula where she was interrogated for several hours till late night in presence of senior cops, including IG (crime against women) Mamta Singh. Police sources said she was posed nearly 50 questions relating to her involvement in Panchkula arson. She remained silent on most of the questions, and repeatedly claimed innocence, added sources.