A special CBI court on Monday sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others to life imprisonment in a murder case. The court had on October 8 held Ram Rahim along with four other accused guilty of murdering his disciple and sect manager Ranjit Singh in 2002.
Along with Dera chief, the court had convicted Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Inder Sain and Sabdil Singh. One more accused in the murder case had passed away a year ago.
On Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed a petition that urged the court to transfer the trial from the CBI court to any other CBI court in Punjab, Haryana or Chandigarh. The plea was filed by Jagseer Singh and was pending since August 24.
Ranjit Singh was one of the 10 influential members of the Dera committee and was shot dead by four gunmen on July 10, 2002. He was murdered for his suspected role in the circulation of an anonymous letter, which narrated how women followers (Sadvis) were being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters. Subsequently, Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati who published the same in a news report was also murdered.
The CBI had, in its charge sheet, Ram Rahim had hatched a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh thinking that the latter was behind the circulation of the anonymous letter alleging sexual harassment of female followers in Dera.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim is already serving a 20-year jail term for raping his two women disciples. He was also convicted for life in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati. He is also accused in a case related to the theft of a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib from the Burj Jawahar Singh Wala Gurdwara.