Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim awarded life sentence in Ranjit Singh murder case
Rahim had been convicted of conspiring to murder his former manager Ranjit Singh in 2002. The other convicted in the murder case of Ranjit Singh are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil.
FollowA special CBI in Haryana’s Panchkula on Monday awarded Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim life imprisonment and four others in Ranjit Singh murder case.
Rahim had been convicted of conspiring to murder his former manager Ranjit Singh in 2002. The other convicted in the murder case of Ranjit Singh are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil.
The court levied a fine of Rs 31 lakh on Ram Rahim and Rs 50,000 on the remaining accused.
The authorities have prohibited the assembly of over four people and carrying of arms in Panchkula district in view of the violence after Rahim’s conviction in rape cases in August 2017 that left 36 people dead.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had sought a death sentence for the Dera chief. However, Ram Rahim had pleaded for mercy via video conference from Rohtak Jail.
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The Dera chief Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in connection with raping two of his women followers and the murder of a journalist in August 2017.
On July 10, 2002, Ranjit Singh, was shot dead near his fields in Khanpur Kolian village of Kurukshetra district. He had reportedly developed differences with the Dera chief after the allegations of rape of sadhvis surfaced.
According to the CBI, Ranjit Singh was murdered for his suspected role in the circulation of an anonymous letter, which narrated how women followers (sadvis) were being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters. In June 2002, Ranjit Singh was summoned to the Dera and threatened with dire consequences, but he refused to seek pardon, saying he had done nothing wrong.
Subsequently, Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati who published the same in a news report was also murdered.
