Chandigarh, Sep 9 (Zee News): As the search operation of the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters near Haryana's Sirsa town was underway on Saturday, a tunnel and a passageway connecting Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's quarters to the hostel of his female disciples were found by the security agencies.
The sanitisation process, which is being initiated on the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court is scheduled to commence in the evening.
Earlier in the day, an illegal fire cracker factory and chemicals were also found during the search of the premises of the Dera. Besides this, an empty box for cartridges of AK 47 was also recovered.
Divulging the details of the search operation, state Information and Public Relations Department Deputy Director, Satish Mehra said, “From the 'gufa' where the Dera head used to stay, a passageway was found which opens to 'Sadhvi Niwas', (where his female disciples were kept).”
Mehra, who is the authorised person to speak to the media, said, “A fibre tunnel too has been located during the search of the dera," adding that the fibre tunnel is filled with mud.
"The era was is connected to Sadhvi Niwas," he further said.
The Haryana government has made elaborate security arrangements to ensure that the search operation of the Dera headquarters is carried out smoothly.
The HC had appointed Court Commissioner AK Pawar to supervise the mammoth search operation. The entire process is also being video graphed.
The operation started on Friday amid tight security and curfew in the area on Friday morning.
The Dera is spread over two campuses, 600 acres and over 100 acres respectively, about eight km from Sirsa and 260 km from Chandigarh.
It houses a stadium, a hospital, educational institutions, luxury resort, bungalows and markets. Hundreds of people and sect followers permanently live and work in the mini-township.
The premises, where the sect chief lived, known as the "gufa" (cave), is itself spread over an area of nearly 100 acres. It is said to have ultra-luxury facilities.
The campus has palatial bungalows of his other family members, none of whom are in the premises since August 25, when the sect chief was convicted of rape and sent to jail.
The maverick self-styled godman was on August 25 convicted of rape by CBI judge Jagdeep Singh for the rape of two female disciples in 1999. He was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.