Revealed: Tunnel into hostel of sadhvis, cracker factory

SIRSA: A secret passage connecting the disgraced Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s home with a hostel for woman disciples, another tunnel lined with fibreglass, a cache of explosives and an illegal cracker factory were found at the sect’s headquarters on Saturday.

An empty box of AK-47 rifle cartridges, 84 cartons of firecrackers and chemicals from the illegal factory, besides hundreds of pairs of shoes, designer clothing and caps, were also discovered.

The discoveries were made during a search in the 800-acre dera hub after its 50-year-old chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was convicted of raping two sadhvis, or woman devotees, in cases that date back to 2002.

The flamboyant “godman”, who has scripted and starred in own films and commands a neardevotional following that runs into millions, was sentenced to 20 years in jail this August.

Police, paramilitary and civil administration officials were involved in the search that began on Friday on the direction of the Punjab and Haryana high court.

A window in his home — also known as gufa, or cave — led to the passage to the hostel, Haryana government spokesman Satish Mehra said.

According to former dera followers, only his closest aides had access to the gufa, a pink mansion shaped like a half-doughnut and kitted out with modern luxuries.

The victims had alleged that the dera chief sexually exploited woman devotees in this fortified house. The second tunnel led to a mud path that looked like a secret escape route opening out about 5km away.

The search team also sealed a skin lab on dera premises. Irregularities were also found in records of medical termination of pregnancies at the dera hospital.

Sources said a geological team from IIT-Roorkee has reached Sirsa to look for anything hidden under Ram Rahim’s home and the sprawling complex Police have called divers to search the big ponds . The search will continue on Sunday.

A WINDOW IN BABA’S HOME — ALSO KNOWN AS GUFA, OR CAVE — LED TO THE PASSAGE TO THE HOSTEL

HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI: Federal indirect tax body, the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Council, on Saturday raised the cess on medium sized-to-large cars and SUVs in the range of 2-7 percentage points but kept the tax burden lower than pre-GST levels.

The council also reduced the GST rate on about 30 commonly used products like dosa batter and rain coats as it sought to pass on benefit of better than expected revenue receipts under the two-month-old tax regime to the consumer.

The revised rates including the cess will be effective from the date they will be notified.