Honeypreet's driver arrested in Rajasthan

The Haryana Police on Friday arrested the driver of Honeypreet Kaur, the controversial adopted daughter of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the disgraced chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect.

Pradeep Kumar, was arrested by a team of the Haryana Police from a location near the religious town of Salasar in Rajasthan, police sources here said on Friday.

The sources said that the arrest could help the police to know the whereabouts of Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja and has been absconding since August 25 evening. She had accompanied the disgraced godman till the CBI special court in Panchkula where he was convicted on August 25 on two counts of rape.

She even accompanied Ram Rahim in the government helicopter from Panchkula to Rohtak after he was convicted in the rape cases and was being shifted to the prison near Rohtak.

The Haryana Police have booked Honeypreet for sedition and being involved in an alleged conspiracy to help Ram Rahim escape after his conviction.

A lookout notice has been issued against Honeypreet.

Honeypreet, who is in her mid-30s and is considered closest to Ram Rahim, and has been his heroine in the five films that he has directed, produced and acted in, in the last three years. Though both (Ram Rahim and Honeypreet) call themselves as the 'father-daughter' duo, her former husband had accused both of having an illicit relationship.

Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment by the CBI court on August 28.

His conviction led to violence in Panchkula and Sirsa in Haryana, leaving 38 people dead and 264 injured. Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from Delhi and several other places in Punjab.

--IANS

js/vd