Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of Dera Sacha Sauda, has been acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana high court in the 2002 murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, a verdict that is being challenged in the Supreme Court.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder of a journalist, citing a failure by the prosecution to prove its case and questioning the CBI's investigation.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the 2002 murder case of a journalist, overturning a previous conviction by a special CBI court.
The 51-year-old sect head is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for raping two of his women followers.
A special CBI court in Panchkula on Friday convicted Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh in 2002.
The court in Panchkula had convicted Ram Rahim and four others -- Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil -- in the murder case on October 8.
The CBI court is hearing the cases of killings of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who ran a local daily 'Poora Sacch', was shot a few months after he published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Singh at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.
The special court had convicted them on Friday in the murder case of a Dera manager, Ranjit Singh.
The Dera Sacha Sauda chief and the three others convicted last Friday in the case appeared before the court through video conferencing.
The CBI court is hearing the cases of murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
'We realised that the government and police were shielding the Dera chief.' 'From 2002 to now, irrespective of which political party, the Dera has always been protected.'
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