The money to allegedly fund violence was recovered from a Dera follower's house.
Self-styled spiritual guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh today has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the rape of two women followers between 1999 and 2001 by CBI court judge Jagdeep Singh in Haryana's Rohtak.
In the run-up to the sentence following his conviction on Friday that led to riots across Haryana and Punjab, the Haryana police cracked down on Dera's congregation centres and raided private premises on suspicion that the followers of the self-styled spiritual guru could be hoarding money, petrol, diesel and weapons to fuel riots after the sentencing.
Haryana Police claim to have recovered Rs 38 lakh from a house of a Dera Sacha Sauda follower in Ambala district. The man is absconding.
"We have recovered Rs 38 lakh cash from the house of Dera follower Jai Ram in Mullana," Ambala Superintendent of Police Abhishek Jorwal said today.
The money, which was to be used allegedly to "trigger violence and arson", was recovered after Ashok Kumar, who was nabbed by Haryana Police earlier, told the police about it, Jorwal claimed.
During investigation, Ashok allegedly named another man Puneet for his alleged involvement in the conspiracy to trigger violence, police said.
Puneet, who was a member of block level member of the Dera and used to manage a
Naam Charcha Ghar in Ambala, was arrested on August 26, police said.
Mr Jorwal claimed that the accused told them they had collected money from Dera followers to be allegedly distributed among 'qurbani' (sacrifice) teams to perpetrate the violence.
Both the accused have been slapped with sedition charge and sent to police custody for four days, he said.
Sticks, rods and material to make petrol bombs have also been recovered from the premises of other centres of Dera Saccha Sauda across Punjab and Haryana. Around 130 Naam Charcha Ghars have been sanitised by the police in the two states. Some of these centres have also been sealed.