Dera Sacha Sauda’s Ram Rahim Singh convicted in murder case

New Delhi: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday held Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others guilty of murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002. The other three accused are Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal.

Special court judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced the verdict in Panchkula.

The sentence will be pronounced on 17 January.

The 51-year-old sect head before the special CBI court through video conferencing from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is serving a 20-year prison term for raping two of his followers. He was convicted in August 2017 in this case.

Chhatrapati was shot in October 2002 outside his house after his newspaper ‘Poora Sach’ published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

The case was registered in 2003 and handed over to the CBI in 2006. The sect head was named the main conspirator in the case.

Press Trust of India contributed to the story.