Gurmeet Ram Rahim held guilty in Ranjit Singh murder case
What's the story
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday held Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh guilty in the murder case of his disciple Ranjit Singh. The special CBI Court of Panchkula also convicted four others in the case. It will pronounce the quantum of the sentence on Tuesday, October 12. Here are more details on this.
Details
Singh guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy
Special CBI Judge Dr. Sushil Kumar Garg held Ram Rahim, along with Jasbir Singh, Sabdil Singh, Krishan Lal, and Inder Sain guilty under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Krishan Lal, Inder Sain, and Jasbir Singh have also been held guilty under the Arms Act, according to reports.
Case
Ranjit Singh was murdered in 2002 in Haryana
Ranjit Singh was murdered on July 10, 2002 at his native Khanpur Kolian village in Kurukshetra district of Haryana. A First Information Report (FIR) on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy was registered at the Thanesar Police station at that time. On November 10, 2003, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered a CBI investigation in the case.
Background
Ram Rahim suspected Ranjit Singh of exposing him
According to the CBI chargesheet, Ram Rahim suspected Ranjit Singh of circulating an anonymous letter accusing the Dera chief of sexually exploiting several women followers. It was the same letter that Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati highlighted in his news report. Chhatrapati was also later killed and Ram Rahim was recently convicted in that murder case.
Information
Ram Rahim is lodged in a Rohtak jail
In August 2017, Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in connection with the rape of two of his women followers. He is currently lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail, serving a life sentence.