Ram Rahim's commandos tried to help him escape, confirms Haryana IG

Haryana's Inspector General (IG) K. K. Rao confirmed that the security personnel of rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh tried to help him escape as soon as he stepped out of the court, but were unsuccessful in their attempt due to the tight security arrangements.

Speaking to ANI, Rao said that Baba had come with full planning of the violence that happened after the verdict was pronounced against him.

He said that Ram Rahim's 'red suitcase,' which he brought with himself, caught the eyes of almost everyone. It was actually used as a signal to instigate the violence outside the court after his conviction.

"We were asked to not to let the convoy, following the Dera chief, to enter the area near the court premises. Few incidents did take place during this time, if we would have not taken care, then it would have caused a lot of danger," he said.

"Baba had planned a conspiracy. As soon as the court pronounced him guilty, he asked us to bring the Red bag, saying that his clothes are inside that bag. The bag was a signal for the supporters of baba, who were waiting outside. As soon as the bag was taken out, we heard his supporters started protesting outside and it was then we came to know that he has planned to give signals to this protestor and everything had a hidden meaning," he added.

Further discussing about another incident which made them yet more alert, Rao said that post verdict, Ram Rahim and her daughter were standing in the corridor for quite a long time, even after being told to not to stand there. He said that both of them were just wasting the time by standing there, as if they were waiting for something to happen.

Rao said that it was after this incident they did not let Ram Rahim travel in his own car and took him in the government vehicle after he was held guilty.

"When we asked Baba to sit the government vehicle, his personal commando surrounded him. The DCP team, who was in charge of moving baba from that place also had an argument with the baba's commando. We tried to manage the situation with talks as didn't want any kind of violence to break out there," he said.

As per Rao, the Dera chief had Z-plus security from quite a long time and a team of 650 commandos of Haryana police escorted him on his way to the court.

Rao added that the cavalcade following Ram Rahim was not allowed to come near the court premises and was stopped near Suraj Theater in Panchkula.

"Since the convoy of 60-70 cars was standing near the theater, we planned to take Ram Rahim from different route after the court's verdict to avoid any kind of mishap and added that not much people of the security personnel was informed about this," he said.

"We got a clue that he was planning to escape from the time he asked us to bring the red bag. Secondly they were just wasting time so that their supporters can take action. He was followed by 60-60 cars what were they doing there? It was needed to handle them tactfully and we did to avoid any major happening," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Haryana police officer said that seven security personnel attempted to take Ram Rahim away in their vehicle after he stepped out of court. It is being seen as an attempt to help him escape.

Some Haryana Police officers and paramilitary personnel inside the court premises thwarted the attempt after a brief scuffle and ensured Ram Rahim, who heads the Dera Sacha Sauda secretary, was put into a police vehicle and driven to a helicopter that flew him to Rohtak, where he has been lodged in prison.