Court frames charges against Honeypreet

PANCHKULA: A court here has framed charges against Honeypreet Insan, the adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, and 39 others in a 2017 violence case that had left 36 dead after the conviction of the godman in two rape cases.

The court of chief judicial magistrate Rohit Watts on Wednesday framed charges for rioting and unlawful assembly among other sections of the Indian Penal Code. Honeypreet, alias Priyanka Taneja, was present in the court when the charges were framed, a defence counsel said.

Earlier, Honeypreet was charged with criminal conspiracy and sedition in connection with the August 2017 violence in Haryana’s Panchkula.

The court, however, has dropped sedition charges against her on November 2. A fortnight ago, she was granted bail in the case. The Haryana police had arrested 41 people while five, including key dera functionary Aditya Insan, were declared proclaimed offenders.

The Panchkula police had booked Honeypreet and other Dera followers on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy in connection with the case.

Honeypreet was named in the FIR for allegedly conspiring to incite violence in Panchkula that broke out following the conviction of the dera head in August 2017. According to the charge sheet, the conspiracy to spread violence was hatched by Honeypreet and the 45-member dera management committee in Sirsa. In the FIR, apart from Honeypreet, Dera chief’s top aides including Surinder Dhiman, Chamkaur Singh, Dilawar Singh and Rakesh Kumar are also mentioned as accused.