Sant Ramanand Was The Target

[Azaad]

Attack on Sant Niranjan Dass and Sant Ramanand in Vienna has taken a new turn with an eyewitness claiming the latter was the target of the attackers and not the former as was being projected by the media.

While the attack on the duo in a Ravidass temple on May 24 had been reported as an attack on Dera head Sant Niranjan Das, but an aide and witness of the incident, today told media persons the accused had come to kill Sant Ramanand and not the former.

Tarsem Lal, said Sant Niranjan Das was sitting ahead while Sant Ramanand was sitting five or six feet behind him when the assailants came and one of them started shooting Sant Ramanand first, he added.

Lal had accompanied both the sants during their tour to Austria and came back today with the body of the Sant and a recuperating Sant Niranjan Dass.

He said Sant Niranjan Das was hit in the melee that followed as the rushed to the aid of his deputy and got injured, he said.

However, he was silent on the identity of the assailants and evaded other queries.

Initially it was reported some Sikh fundamentalists had targeted dera head Niranjan Dass for allowing his followers to touch his feet in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib.

The Vienna police too had also reported the attack was premeditated and a conspiracy. What lends credence to fresh revelation is the fact Sant Ramanand had been named successor of Sant Niranjan Das but he was more dynamic of the duo and it was due to his efforts that the more than 36 deras had come up across Europe alone.

He was largely credited with popularising the sect across the globe. Like Sant Niranjan Das, he was given "Chadavah? (religious offering) to the dera when he was a kid.

Known as aggressive and assertive person, he was graduate and had introduced the concept of circulating CDs and DVDs to propagate the teachings of Sant Ravidass. Hence, a possible threat to those who killed him.