Honeypreet taken to Bathinda, Sri Ganganagar; Vipassana asked to join on Thursday

Chandigarh: The Haryana Police on Wednesday took Honeypreet Insan, confidante of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, to Bathinda and Sri Ganganagar in connection with the violence that followed the sect head's conviction in a rape case.

The police also issued a notice asking Dera chairperson Vipassana Insan to join the investigations tomorrow, officials said.

"The Special Investigation Team (SIT) took Honeypreet Insan to Sri Ganganagar and Bathinda in connection with the case," Panchkula Police Commissioner A S Chawla said while refusing to share more details.

The police are probing the role of Honeypreet Insan, who calls herself Ram Rahim Singh's adopted daughter, in inciting the large scale violence that took place in Panchkula after the Dera chief's conviction in a rape case on August 25.

Meanwhile, the Panchkula Police today issued a notice to Dera Sacha Sauda chairperson Vipassana Insan asking her to join investigations tomorrow.

Yesterday, Vipassana Insan did not turn up before the Panchkula Police, citing medical grounds. She had been required for questioning in connection with the probe into the August 25 violence that claimed 35 lives in Panchkula alone, police offcials said.

Earlier, Chawla had said that the 36-year-old Honeypreet Insan was misleading and not cooperating with the police during the interrogation.

Honeypreet Insan, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, was arrested by the Haryana Police on October 3. A court in Panchkula had yesterday extended her police remand till October 13.

She was at the top of a list of 43 people "wanted" by the state police in connection with the violence. Haryana Police had on September 1 issued a look-out notice against Honeypreet Insan and another key aide of the Dera chief, Aditya Insan, following apprehensions that they might try to "escape from the country".

Following the conviction of the Dera chief, violence had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa, where the Dera is headquartered, claiming 41 lives. The Dera chief has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two female disciples.