KOLKATA: Almost six months ago, a plan for constructing an ashram and a residential unit at Bokshi Jhor was revalidated by the Darjeeling Municipality .If the construction work is completed, this would be the first Dera ashram of Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in Bengal. However, after he was sentenced to 20 years in jail on Monday for the rape of two women followers, his Darjeeling property has come under scanner. A company had bought four acres at Bokshi Jhor, which is 3 km from Darjeeling town, in September 2011. According to locals, this property has close ties with Singh. They claim that Dera Sacha Sauda followers had arrived in Darjeeling and started constructing a two-storied structure that was to serve as an ashram. When TOI got in touch with a representative of the firm, he said, "I used to have a cosmetics manufacturing unit there. I used to be in Darjeeling during 2012. But the property has been sold off and we have no connection with Dera people." However, Prashant Rai, an engineer with the Darjeeling Municipality , said only six months ago the plan to construct the ashram was revalidated. "The plan was sanctioned earlier. Since the construction couldn't be completed within the stipulated time of three ye ars, the plan had lapsed. Approximately six months ago, the company sent a signatory across to my office. The plan was revalidated and they got an extension of two years. Const ruction work is on and I know some Dera people are in the location now," Rai said. On being asked if this plan was for a cosmetics manufacturing unit, Rai replied in the negative. "It is a plan for a sort of an ashram and a residential unit. But now, we might revisit the permission. If problem arises, the matter will be taken up by the Board of Councillors," Rai added. Darjeeling MLA Amar Singh Rai is also aware of the construction. "In 2012, Singh used to visit Darjeeling. I was then the chairman of the Darjeeling Municipality . He had bought this whole hillock and barricaded it. The impression we had got was that he wanted to construct an ashram where he would do his social service. We never had an inkling of what his real intentions were," he said. Initially, Singh had created a good impression' of himself. In 2012, there was a fire in Darjeeling. A few hundred volunteers of Shah Satnam Ji Green `S' Welfare Force Wing were camping in Darjeeling. "Some of them had risked their lives to rescue the locals," he said.

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Ram Rahim's Darjeeling ashram under scanner - Times of India