Dera Sacha Sauda Follower Kills Self After Investments in Sect Go Kaput

File photo of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. (Getty Images)

New Delhi: A Dera Sacha Sauda follower from Charkhi Dadri in Haryana committed suicide when he realised that his investments in the cult would go down the drain after the sect’s chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20 years in prison for rape.

48-year-old Somveer had invested Rs 3.10 crores in the Dera’s hotel and resorts business. He had also donated 12 acres of his land to the Dera, in blind faith.

The cult supporter went missing on Wednesday and his body was recovered from a village well on Friday, while his family said that Somveer was depressed after hearing about Ram Rahim’s arrest. After his disappearance, the family approached Haryana police in a bid to locate him.

On Friday evening, a farmer noticed the body in the village well and informed the police.

Somveer had sold 25 acres of his land in order to invest in the Dera’s business. He was allegedly told by Ram Rahim himself that he would get huge returns on his investment.

Meanwhile, the ‘sanitisation’ drive at the Dera’s Sirsa headquarters entered its second day on Saturday with hundreds of security personnel, including paramilitary, and local administration involved in the exercise.

JCB machines, locksmiths, forensic experts and dog squads were called in to assist in the comprehensive search. Internet services in Sirsa district were suspended by local authorities on Friday and taking cognisance of a media report, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij ordered an inquiry to ascertain if the Dera had sent 14 bodies to a medical college in Lucknow earlier this year in violation of rules.