Before Gurmeet Ram Rahim's verdict, Dera Sacha Sauda gave Rs 5 crore to fuel violence in Panchkula

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment by the CBI court for the 2002 rapes of two of his disciples.

Panchkula: The special investigation team (SIT) has revealed that Dera Sacha Sauda had pumped in at least Rs 5 crore to fuel violence in Panchkula.

As per the investigations, Panchkula branch head Chamkaur Singh was the key person in procuring and spending the money which he had received from the Dera management.

After the registration of a sedition case against him on August 28, he went missing.

The Dera had also sent money to various places in Punjab.

The Times of India quoted sources as saying that the Dera followers were told that they would get compensation in case of loss of life during the violence.

Violence broke out at Panchkula after Ram Rahim's conviction, leaving more than 30 dead. At least six others were killed in violent incidents in Sirsa.

Meanwhile, two key followers of jailed Ram Rahim continue to evade the police.

The Haryana police said it was in touch with forces in other states and was hopeful the two Dera Sacha Sauda functionaries, Honeypreet Insan and Aditya Insan, would soon be arrested.

The police had sent a team to Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh bordering Nepal in search of Honeypreet, a confidante of the self-styled 'godman' serving a 20-year-old jail term for two rape cases.

It is suspected that she may have left for Nepal through the porous India-Nepal border.

Haryana Police on September 1 had issued a lookout notice for the two, fearing that they could leave the country.

(With PTI inputs)