Dera Sacha Sauda chief skips hearing due to backache

Ambala, Jul 5 (UNI) Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is facing trial in murder and rape cases being pursued by the CBI, today did not appear in the Special CBI Court here due to backache.

The counsel for the Dera chief submitted an application in the court stating that his client was unable to attend the court because of backache. The special court fixed July 26 as the next date of hearing.

The Ambala police had made elaborate arrangements to provide security to the Baba Ram Rahim, who has of late been receiving threats from various Sikh organisations from Punjab following the killing of a Sikh youth by his gunman at Mumbai last month.

Police continued to beef up security for the Dera chief till late night and more than 2000 police personnel were deployed.

The intelligence agencies were also alerted in view of the threats from the Sikh organisations. The agencies' officials had been deployed to keep strict watch over the movements of people entering the town. They were keeping watch on the hotels and people coming from across the Haryana border.

However, only a few of his followers turned up in Ambala for the hearing. The Dera premises had been informed in advance that the chief was not attending the court.

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