The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday acquitted the self-proclaimed godman and rape convict, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, in connection to the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002. The ruling came nearly after seven years, after the special CBI court convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He is currently serving his jail sentence of 20 years for two rape cases.
Singh is currently serving his incarceration in Sunaria Jail in Haryana’s Rohtak. However, in May 2024, the high court acquitted him in the 2002 murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. He is also accused in several FIRs linked to the 2015 sacrilege incidents that are still under investigation in Punjab.
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What Is The Case About
Singh and three others—Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh, and Krishan Lal—had been convicted by a special CBI court in 2019 for the murder of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and were sentenced to life imprisonment. The Dera chief had challenged the verdict before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had heard the appeal and reserved its judgment earlier.
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Chhatrapath used to run the Haryana-based publication "Poora Sach" and was shot dead outside his house in 2002. The attack occurred days after the newspaper published an anonymous letter that alleged sexual exploitation of women followers at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters.
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Singh is currently serving his incarceration in Sunaria Jail in Haryana’s Rohtak. However, in May 2024, the high court acquitted him in the 2002 murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh. He is also accused in several FIRs linked to the 2015 sacrilege incidents that are still under investigation in Punjab.