Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Along With Four Others Convicted In Ranjit Singh Murder Case

Self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four other accused have been convicted in the Ranjit Singh murder case.

Guru Ram Rahim Singh has been convicted

New Delhi: The special CBI court in Haryana's Panchkula convicted Dera Sacha Sauda's Gurmeet Ram Rahim and four others in the Ranjit Singh murder case.

Ranjit Singh, who was murdered on July 10, 2002, was a former supporter of Singh's Dera Sacha Sauda. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Panchkula has convicted Singh and four co-accused under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The special CBI court will announce the sentence of all the culprits on October 12. 

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a plea seeking transfer of the trial from the CBI court to any other CBI court in Punjab, Haryana, or Union Territory of Chandigarh. The petition, filed by Ranjit Sigh’s son, Jagseer Singh, was pending litigation since August 24.

In September this year, the Punjab police had denied reports of giving clean chit to Dera Sacha Sauda chief in a 2015 case of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib. He was named as an accused in a case that pertains to the theft of a ''bir'' (copy) of the Guru Granth Sahib from the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala Gurdwara.

In 2019, Dera Sacha Sauda chief and three others were pronounced guilty of the murder of journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati. Chhatrapati had published an anonymous letter about the sexual exploitation of women by Ram Rahim Singh at his ashram.

At present, the self-styled godman is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his women's disciples. He was convicted for the rape by a special CBI court in August 2017. 

(With agency inputs)