Ranjit singh murder case: The Special CBI Court of Panchkula today sentenced Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four other convicts to life imprisonment in the Ranjit Singh murder case .
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others were convicted in this case. Ram Rahim appeared in Monday’s hearing through video conferencing. Significantly, the sentence in this case was to be announced earlier on October 12, but the court had reserved its decision till October 18. It is worth noting that the special CBI court has arrested Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others from the Dera. In the case of murder of former manager Ranjit Singh, he was convicted under section 302, 120B of IPC.
In view of the announcement of punishment on last Tuesday i.e. 12 October, Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohit Handa had imposed Section 144 in the district. Section 144 was imposed in view of the apprehension of loss of life and property, to create any kind of tension in the district, to disturb the peace and riots. Significantly, after the allegations of alleged rape of a Sadhvi in the Dera came to light, the differences of Dera manager Ranjit Singh with Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim had increased. After this, on July 10, 2002, he was shot near his fields in Khanpur Koliyan village of Kurukshetra district.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim is currently lodged in Sunaria Jail in Rohtak district. On August 25, 2017, a special CBI court in Panchkula had convicted him of raping two sadhvis (female disciples) and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment. On January 17, 2019, the same CBI court had also sentenced him to life imprisonment in the murder of Sirsa journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
