Dera chief’s former driver a victim, says CBI in chargesheet

FORCED CASTRATION CASE The man’s plea to retestify against dera chief is pending before the HC and will be heard on February 20

PANCHKULA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’S recent chargesheet against rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim of the Dera Sacha Sauda and two others in a case involving the forced castration of several members of the former’s religious organisation has revealed that Rahim’s former driver Khatta Singh was among the victims.

According to the chargesheet, Khatta Singh deposed before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC ) stating that he was castrated inside the dera (religious organisation) by Dr MP Singh and Dr Pankaj Garg at the behest of Gurmeet Ram Rahim in 2002. According to his testimony, the dera chief was present during his castration. “He (Rahim) got us castrated against our wish,” Khatta is quoted as saying in the chargesheet filed in the special CBI court of judicial magistrate Kapil Rathi on February 1.

Khatta was CBI’S witness in two murder cases, but turned hostile during his testimony in the Panchkula CBI court in 2012.

His plea to re-testify against dera chief is pending before the HC and will be heard on February 20.

128 PEOPLE EXAMINED During its probe, the CBI examined 128 devotees who had allegedly been castrated from a list of 166 names that former dera follower Hans Raj Chauhan had shared in his petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The CBI started the probe in 2015.

When contacted, Khatta said, “...we remained slaves under

him and never questioned his orders.” “After his (Rahim’s) conviction in the rape case, we hope for speedy justice not only in castration case, but other murder trials pending against him,” he said.

“Khatta Singh’s testimony as a castrated victim reflects that he was privy to wrongdoings inside the dera,” his counsel Navkiran Singh said.

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