Ranjit Singh murder: Court to pronounce verdict on August 26

THE FORMER FOLLOWER OF RAM RAHIM WAS SHOT DEAD BY FOUR ASSAILANTS ON JULY 10, 2002 AT HIS NATIVE VILLAGE IN KURUKSHETRA

PANCHKULA: A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court will pronounce the judgment in Ranjit Singh murder case, in which Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is one of the accused, on August 26. The court has issued notice to the respective jail superintendents to present the accused — Ram Rahim who is behind bars at Rohtak’s Sunaria Jail and Krishan Lal who is lodged in Ambala central jail — via video-conferencing on the above-mentioned date.

Ranjit Singh, a former follower of Gurmeet Ram Rahim, was shot dead by four assailants on July 10, 2002, at his native Khanpur Kolian village in Kurukshetra after he ‘raised his voice’ against the dera head.

Earlier, special CBI judge Dr Sushil Kumar Garg had fixed August 23 as the date for the final order and also sought the physical presence of the accused. However, the district attorney cited the January 11, 2019 verdict against the dera chief when the accused was produced through video-conferencing (VC). “In the present case, too, it is requested that the presence of the accused be allowed through VC in view of the possible threat to law and order situation,” he said. The district attorney also said since the Haryana Vidhan Sabha session was also scheduled from August 20-25, the police would remain occupied, while requesting the court to fix any other date after August 25 for pronouncing the order. The court then fixed August 26 for the final order and directed the superintendents of Sunaria and Ambala jails to ensure the presence of accused Ram Rahim and Krishan Lal through video-conferencing.

Public prosecutors can address their arguments in rebuttal on August 23.

Dera head already has two convictions

The dera head has already been convicted twice in separate cases. Ram Rahim was convicted of rape by a CBI court on August 25, 2017, and was sentenced to a 20-year jail term two days later. His conviction led to widespread violence in Panchkula in which alteast 36 lives were lost and hundreds were injured.

In January 2019, Ram Rahim and three others were sentenced to life imprisonment in the journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati murder case.