Honeypreet Insan masterminded Panchkula violence, sanctioned Rs 1.25 cr: Dera supporters tell police

Giving away what could be critical in determining the fate of Honeypreet Insan, five Dera Sacha Sauda supporters in police custody have claimed that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s ‘adopted’ daughter had masterminded and funded the 25 August violence in Panchkula. In their statement, the supporters said that Honeypreet provided funding to the sect’s supporters in Panchkula and sanctioned Rs 1.25 crore ahead of verdict day, reported  CNN-News18. She chaired the meeting on 17 August in Sirsa to plan violence. Honeypreet was arrested  on 3 October, after evading arrest for over a month. She was among Haryana’s most wanted 43 Dera followers accused of inciting violence in Panchkula following Ram Rahim’s verdict. The statements of all five Dera supporters — Rakesh, Chamkaur Singh, Dan Singh, Dilawar and Surinder Singh — have been videographed by the police. They also claimed that Honeypreet would handle all financial matters in Dera, along with Ram Rahim’s movements outside it.

Dera supporters in custody name Honypreet as mastermind of #PanchkulaViolence. Supporters also claim she sanctioned 1.25 cr before verdict pic.twitter.com/kus8ifLGwI

— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 6, 2017

Besides stoking violence in the district, Honeypreet allegedly hatched a conspiracy to whisk away Ram Rahim from police custody a week before his conviction, reported  India Today. The 17 August meeting was attended by Ram Rahim’s private secretary Rakesh Kumar Arora and Dera’s chief security officer Preetam, who were later arrested by SIT. The Haryana Police is likely to conduct a narco test on Honeypreet, since she has remained evasive about her whereabouts, giving several answers. She proved tough  to interrogate when Haryana SIT asked her the 40-odd questions. [caption id=“attachment_4114779” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Honeypreet Insan. News18[/caption] Honeypreet, who has been charged with rioting and sedition , had claimed that she had no idea about the finances of Dera. Calling it a sensitive issue, Police Commissioner AS Chawla revealed that despite Honeypreet’s claim that she is innocent, they will interrogate her. The Panchkula police on Wednesday produced Honeypreet in a Panchkula court which has remanded her to six-day police custody . Honeypreet’s delayed arrest paved way for a blame game between the Punjab and Haryana governments. While Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar accused the Punjab Police of not sharing information with its Haryana counterpart ahead of her arrest on 3 October, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh alleged that Khattar was attempting to divert public attention from the collapse of the law and order in Haryana since the rape conviction of Ram Rahim. Meanwhile senior Punjab Congress leader and former legislator Harminder Singh Jassi rejected allegations of him sheltering Honeypreet and helping her evade arrest by using security cover he gets from the Punjab Police. “I never provided shelter to Honeypreet. After a lookout notice was issued against her (on 1 September) by the Haryana police, she did not meet me,” he said. Jassi, whose daughter is married to Ram Rahim’s son, claimed that the accusations against him were “baseless”, adding that he would quit politics if the allegations were proved.