Book on Ram Rahim’s rise and downfall

New Delhi, April 25

A new book tells the story of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who hailed from a farming family and went on to become the head of a sect before the law caught up with him and put him in jail.

Once known for his flamboyant lifestyle and revered by lakhs of followers, Ram Rahim is now known as ‘qaidi’ (prisoner) number 1997 by his fellow inmates in Rohtak jail, writes Anurag Tripathi in “Dera Sacha Sauda and Gurmeet Ram Rahim: A Decade-long Investigation”.

The book stems from Tripathi’s journalistic investigation, that began in 2007, into the reported criminal activities at Dera Sacha Sauda.

The story of Ram Rahim’s rise allegedly involved gory murders, sexual exploitation, forced castrations, private militias, illegal trade in arms and opium and land grabs, says the book, published by Penguin.

Tripathi argues that unlike the first two dera chiefs, Ram Rahim’s philosophy was far from spiritual and was oriented from the beginning towards acquisition and accumulation of power.

He says in order to fund his plans of setting up an exploitative empire, the dera chief began manipulating the minds of his followers.

“He started telling them that if they desired to connect directly with the supreme power, they had to show willingness to give away their worldly possessions, including land, to the dera. Many fell prey, blindly signing sales deeds in favour of the dera at throwaway rates,” he says.

The dera, in turn, sold the land at a premium and used the money to buy more land in Sirsa, he adds. As his wealth grew, Ram Rahim thought of raising a private army to protect his empire, he further says.

“In early 2000, the dera chief discussed the idea with some Army veterans who were dera followers. A blueprint was made and recruitment for the purpose began,” the book says.

“The dera’s militia had three wings. The inner wing closely guarded Ram Rahim and was handpicked by trainers. The wing’s responsibility was to steer the chief away from the site during an eventuality,” it says.

“The second wing provided external cover when the dera chief was shifted to a safe base in case of a crisis. The outer wing monitored every corner of the dera premises and did not let anyone in during a crisis,” it says. — PTI