Dera chief held guilty of killing journalist

PANCHKULA: A CBI court Friday held Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others guilty of murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002.

“All the four accused have been convicted,” CBI counsel HPS Verma told PTI after special CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh pronounced the verdict here.

The sentence will be pronounced on January 17. The three others accused are Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal. The 51-year-old sect head appeared before t he court through video conferencing from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently serving a 20-year prison term in jail for raping two of his followers.

Chhatrapati was shot in October 2002 outside his house after his newspaper ‘Poora Sach’ published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

The case was registered in 2003 and handed over to the CBI in 2006. Ram Rahim was named the main conspirator in the case. Meanwhile, the son of Sirsa- based journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati, who was murdered by aides of convicted Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in 2002, on Friday demanded capital punishment for the disgraced self-styled godman. After a special CBI court here convicted Ram Rahim and three others in the murder case of the journalist, his son Anshul Chhatrapati told media: “Such a man is not fit to live in our society. We demand that he should be given capital punishment.”

“We were hoping for the past 16-17 years that we would get justice. We have got justice today after suffering for so long,” Anshul said.

“We had to face a lot of difficulties and suffer a lot as he was very powerful. We thank the CBI team that investigated the case and supported us. This man should get the death sentence,” said Anshul. The CBI court will announce the quantum of punishment on January 17. Chhatrapati was shot five times in October 2002 in Sirsa town, around 230 km from here, after he wrote about shady activities inside the sect headquarters.

Chhatrapati also published an anonymous letter, written by two female disciples of the sect chief, about their sexual exploitation and rape.