Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the murder case of former DSS manager Ranjit Singh.
The Dera chief was also convicted in the rape of sadhvis and murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati. He had challenged all the verdicts before the high court earlier.
On October 18, 2021, the special CBI court of Panchkula convicted him in the murder of Ranjit Singh and ordered him life imprisonment. Ranjit Singh was shot dead by four miscreants in 2002 under the alleged instructions of the Dera chief in Khanpur Koliya village of Kurukshetra. Two of the miscreants are still unidentified.
According to the CBI court, Ranjit Singh was killed because the Dera chief suspected him of being behind the circulation of an anonymous letter exposing the sexual abuse of women disciples at the Dera.
The CBI had said that Ranjit Singh was summoned to the Dera in June 2002 when the contents of the letter surfaced. He was threatened with dire consequences but Ranjit Singh refused to apologise saying he had done nothing wrong.
Also, the Dera chief was ordered a 20-year sentence for raping two sadhvis. In 2019, Ram Rahim and three others were convicted of murdering journalist Chander Chhatrapati 16 years ago.
Read more
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