Rajesh Moudgil
Panchkula
The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here on Friday held the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others guilty in the case of murder of former Dera follower Ranjit Singh.
According to official information, while all the accused in the case were convicted by the CBI court in the case, the quantum of punishment would be pronounced on October 12.
Besides the Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, his driver Krishan Lal, others namely Jasbir, Avtar and Sabdil have been convicted, while another accused Inder Sain had died last year.
Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim is currently undergoing a 20-year jail term in the case of raping two of his disciples in Rohtak’s Sunaria Jail in Haryana.
The CBI counsel held that Ranjit Singh, a follower of Ram Rahim, was shot dead on July 10, 2002, near his fields in his native village Khanpur Kolian village in Kurukshetra as he had been raising his voice against the Dera head about the said sexual exploitations.
According to the prosecution, Ranjit Singh was shot dead as the Dera head Ram Rahim suspected that he also was behind the circulation of an anonymous letter highlighting sexual exploitation of female disciples at the Sirsa Dera.
There were mainly three cases registered against the Sirsa-based Dera head in 2002. All the cases were investigated by the CBI and the Dera head had already been convicted in two cases – one about the sexual exploitation of women disciples, the other of the murder of Sirsa journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who published reports against the Dera.
According to reports, the third case was of Ranjit Singh in which he was convicted on Friday and it may be recalled that the conviction in the case of sexual exploitation in August 2017 had resulted in widespread violence in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
according to the CBI cousel H P S Verma said that the special CBI court had convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for murder of Ranjit Singh, besides others and the quantum of punishment would be pronounced on October 12.
