Secret tunnels to women's hostel, illegal explosive factory found inside Dera

Sirsa (Haryana): Two secret tunnels, including one that connected the Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s residence with the hostel for female disciples, and an illegal firecracker factory were on Saturday unearthed on the second day of the massive sanitisation exercise at the sect headquarters here.

An empty box of AK 47 cartridges, 84 cartons of firecrackers and chemicals from the illegal factory, besides hundreds of pairs of shoes, designer clothing and caps, were also found, an official said.

“A window-shaped secret tunnel that connected Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s private residence also known as gufa or terawas to the sadhvis (female disciples) hostel was found during the search,” according to state information and public relations department deputy director, Satish Mehra, who has been authorised by the administration to speak to the media.

The other fibre glass tunnel detected by the security forces opened some five km away from the Dera head’s private residence, he added.

The search was launched on the premises of the dera in the wake of conviction of sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in two rape cases last month and the subsequent violence by his supporters which left 38 people dead. He has been jailed for 20 years.

The illegal firecracker factory has been sealed and a case under the Explosives Act had been registered against the factory owner, Mehra said.