Punjab: Pastor Gill surrenders in court, sent to 5-day police remand

Controversial pastor Jashan Gill on Wednesday surrendered in a local court even as a Gurdaspur police team had gone to Jammu to arrest him.

Wanted in a rape case registered in 2023, Jashan Gill had been on the run. He is accused of raping a 22-year old girl, who was also his disciple.

He is the second pastor to have courted controversy in the recent days. On April 1, a Mohali court had sentenced self-styled preacher Bajinder Singh to life imprisonment till death in a rape case.

On Wednesday afternoon, Gill walked into the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Jaginder Singh and expressed his intention to surrender. The court remanded him in police custody thereafter.

Sources said Jashan Gill was under pressure to surrender as the police had arrested his brother Prem Masih and sister Martha for allegedly sheltering him. “Our teams had come close to arresting him. However, he walked into the court and surrendered,” said a police officer. His brother was nabbed from Jammu, while his sister was taken into custody from Abul Khair village on the outskirts of Gurdaspur.

SSP Aditya said, “We will cover all sections as mentioned in the FIR. It will be a thorough investigation. We will not spare anybody who provided him shelter. Everything will become clear after the investigation.”

The rape victim’s father had met senior police officials on Tuesday, demanding Jashan Gill’s arrest as soon as possible. On an earlier occasion, he had alleged that Gill had bribed police officers and “that was the reason why he was not being apprehended despite the fact that the case was registered in 2023”.

The claim was, however, refuted by the police.

“She used to accompany other members of my family to congregations presided over by Gill at Abul Khair, near Gurdaspur, and at some other places. He apparently misled my daughter by convincing her that he was influential enough to send her abroad. He established physical relations with her and when she became pregnant, he made her undergo abortion at Khokhar village. After that, she developed complications and died,” said the victim’s father.

He said he approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court after he started receiving threats. He said he had urged the court to order a CBI probe into the case. The SSP said there was no pressure on the police in the case. “We have been regularly raiding his hideouts ever since the FIR was registered,” he said.

Punjab