Honeypreet misleading investigation: Haryana Police

Panchkula (Haryana), Oct 6 (IANS) Haryana Police on Friday claimed that Honeypreet Insan, the closest aide of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, is misleading police in the investigation into her role in violence in Panchkula and elsewhere after the August 25 conviction of Ram Rahim on two counts of rape.

Panchkula Police Commissioner A.S. Chawla told media persons here that Honeypreet was not fully cooperating with the police in investigation and was evasive in her replies.

"She is misleading the police," Chawla said.

The officer said Honeypreet, who was on the run from law for 38 days after she was booked for sedition, stayed in Bathinda for a few days and also in Rajasthan and Delhi.

Chawla said efforts were on to nab other two top functionaries of the sect, Aditya Insan and Pawan Insan, who were also on the run since August 25.

"We will arrest the other people on the run as well," he said.

Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, was on Wednesday sent to six-day police remand by a court in Panchkula. She was arrested from neighbouring Punjab on Tuesday.

Police officials said raids were being conducted in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and some other places to arrest those behind the violence.

The police had been on Honeypreet's trail for over a month and raids were conducted in Nepal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Haryana and Delhi.

Honeypreet, in her mid-30s, has been the closest aide of Ram Rahim for nearly a decade. Her former husband Vishwas Gupta had alleged an illicit relationship between the two.

The woman -- who has been claiming to be Ram Rahim's "adopted daughter" -- starred as the lead heroine in five films he directed, produced and acted in over a period of three years.

Ram Rahim has been sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of over Rs 30 lakh. His conviction led to violence in Panchkula and Sirsa in Haryana, leaving 38 people dead and another 264 injured. Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from Delhi and several places in Punjab.