Days after Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was chargesheeted in the Ambala court for his alleged role in the murders of journalist Ram Chander Chattarpati and Ranjit Singh, a worker in the Dera, and for raping sadhvis, the officials of the Dera have been treating those calling on them either on phone or otherwise with suspicion.

"Who are you and who gave you my phone number," were the questions that Aditya Insan shot at this correpondent when I tried to reach him on phone and ask him whether it is the Dera who would be answering questions from the journalists regarding the charges or some advocate who is involved in preparing the defence of their Dera chief.

"I thought that rediff.com was only a portal and had nothing to do with news," he said.

When told that rediff.com carried news, Aditya said he would get in touch as and when required.

"We are looking into the legal aspects of the charges. We do not want to play to the galleries. We will reply at the appropriate time," he said.

Meanwhile Swami Agnivesh, who had earlier led a four-member team to Sirsa during the Dera-Sikh standoff to work out an amicable settlement between the two warring factions, told rediff.com that the Central Bureau of Investigation had taken the correct step by filing charges against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

"I welcome the move of the CBI. I will go a step further and say that investigations should be carried out to establish if constructions within the Dera are legal or not. The CBI should also investigate other things like how the Dera men managed to procure so much arms and whether those arms are legal," Agnivesh said.