More trouble ahead for jailed godman

TIP OF THE ICEBERG Cases of planning murder close in on controversial godman even as Haryana remains largely peaceful during the pronouncing of sentence

Legal troubles far from over for Dera chief Ram Rahim

CHANDIGARH: Self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was on Monday sent to 20 years in jail for raping two disciples but this is just the beginning of legal troubles for the flamboyant sect leader.

The Dera Sacha Sauda chief has two cases of planning murder pending against him. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also looking into accusations that he ordered castration of 400 followers at his Sirsa-headquartered dera.

The murder conspiracy trials are in finals stages in the CBI court in Panchkula that on August 25 found him guilty of rape.

“Arguments are in final stages in both the cases and the trial could be over by the end of the year,” a lawyer associated with the cases said.

One of the cases is that of a Sirsa-based journalist, Ram Chandra Chhatrapati, who was killed in 2002. He was the editor of a local evening newspaper, Poora Sach (Complete Truth).

Chhatrapati was shot allegedly by dera followers at his home in October 2002 and died in a hospital a month later. He was killed for writing about the “wrongdoings” inside the dera, the CBI has said.

It was Chhatrapati who first published the anonymous letter that talked about rapes and sexual harassment faced by women disciples at hands of the 50-yearold sect leader. The letter formed the base of the rape trial against the bling-loving dera chief.

The second case is that of Ranjit Singh, a dera follower, who, too, is suspected to have been killed for exposing sexual exploitation of women.

The CBI opened probe into the allegations of castration in December 2014 after the Haryana Police, which faced severe criticism for the violence that erupted after the rape verdict, was pulled up by the Punjab and Haryana high court for a “shoddy probe”.

A Fatehabad resident, Hansraj, alleged that he and other dera followers were castrated on the orders of the dera head, who said it would bring them closer to God.

CBI IS ALSO LOOKING INTO ACCUSATIONS THAT RAM RAHIM ORDERED CASTRATION OF 400 FOLLOWERS AT HIS DERA

MANOJ DHAKA/HT Posters of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh near a police post in Haryana’s Rohtak. The town remained tense on Monday but heavy deployment of security personnel ensured that no untoward incident took place.

RAVI CHOUDHARY/HT The counsel of convicted Dera chief Ram Rahim speak to media after court hearing on Monday,