Life imprisonment to the four convicts along with the Dera chief, a fine of 31 lakhs on Ram Rahim
In the Ranjit Singh murder case, the court sentenced 5 convicts, including Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim, to life imprisonment. In this case, apart from Ram Rahim, the names of the other four convicts are Jasbir, Avtar, Krishna Lal and Sabdil. In Panchkula, CBI Judge Sushil Garg also imposed a fine of Rs 31 lakh on Ram Rahim. The remaining four convicts were fined Rs 50,000 each. Ram Rahim was earlier also sentenced to life imprisonment in the journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati murder case. Apart from this, Ram Rahim has also been sentenced to 10 years in the sexual abuse case of two sadhvis. Dera chief Ram Rahim’s advocate Ajay Burman said he would challenge the decision in the High Court.
After the court’s decision came, CBI’s lawyer HPS Verma made it clear that Ram Rahim would remain in jail till his death. He said that the sentence given in the Ranjit Singh murder case will run with the sentence given earlier. On the other hand, Ranjit Singh’s son Jagseer, who was present in the court after the verdict, expressed satisfaction over the court’s decision.
Earlier on Monday morning, the production of convict Ram Rahim took place through video conferencing. At the same time, the other 4 convicts were brought to the Panchkula court. Before the verdict came on Monday, the Panchkula district administration imposed Section 144 in the entire city since morning. Policemen were deployed along with ITBP personnel throughout Panchkula. People coming to the city were allowed to proceed only after conducting a thorough search.
CBI’s lawyer HPS Verma had sought death sentence for Ram Rahim and the four convicts, but the court awarded life imprisonment. Earlier, Ram Rahim told the court that he is a citizen of this country and he has full faith in the court. He demanded concession in punishment by citing his illness and social work being run by the dera. In the Ranjit Singh murder case, the CBI court had reserved the verdict on October 12 after hearing the arguments of both the sides. The date of October 18 was given by CBI Judge Sushil Garg on seeking time to read the arguments given by the CBI by the lawyers of the convicts.
What is Ranjit Singh murder case?
On 10 July 2002, Ranjit Singh of Kurukshetra, a member of the Management Committee of Dera Sacha Sauda, was shot dead. Dera management suspected that it was Ranjit Singh who got his sister to write an anonymous letter in the Sadhvi sexual abuse case. Dissatisfied with the police investigation, Ranjit Singh’s father filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2003, seeking a CBI probe into his son’s murder, which was accepted by the High Court. CBI registered a case against 5 people including Deramukhi Ram Rahim in this case. In 2007, the Special Court of CBI framed the charges on the accused and convicted them on 8 October 2021.
The testimony of 3 people was important
The testimony of 3 people was important in the Ranjit Singh murder case. Of these, two eyewitnesses Sukhdev Singh and Joginder Singh told the court that they saw the accused firing at Ranjit Singh. The third witness was Khatta Singh, the driver of Deramukhi. According to Khatta Singh, a conspiracy was hatched to kill Ranjit Singh in front of him. Khatta Singh said in his statement that Deramukhi Ram Rahim asked to kill Ranjit Singh in front of him. During the initial hearing of the case, Khatta Singh had retracted this statement in the court, but after many years he again appeared in the court and testified. The five were convicted on the basis of his testimony.
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