Disgraced Indian godman Ram Rahim acquitted in 2002 Ranjit Singh murder case
Gurmeet Ram Rahim
Disgraced Indian godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the chief of Haryana-based religious outfit Dera Sacha Sauda, was acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday (May 28) in the 2002 Ranjit Singh murder case.
Ram Rahim has a 2017 sexual assault conviction to his name and the 56-year-old was also convicted for being involved in the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. Ram Rahim is also facing prosecution for allegedly ordering the forced castration of 400 of his followers.
A division bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra allowed the appeals filed by Ram Rahim Singh, Jasbir Singh, Sabdil Singh, Krishan Lal and Avtar Singh against the conviction order by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in connection with the murder of the Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
A detailed order is yet to be released.
In October 2021, the CBI court of Panchkula held the accused Jasbir Singh, Sabdil Singh, and Krishan Lal guilty of offence punishable under Section 302 (murder) read with 120 b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Dera chief Ram Rahim, Avtar Singh, Jasbir Singh, Sabdil Singh and Krishan Lal were held guilty of offence under Section 120 b of the IPC read with Section 302 of the IPC and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) read with Section 120 b. Further, the CBI court held Sabdil Singh guilty of offence under Section 27 of the Arms Act, 1959.
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Ranjit Singh, one of the managers at the Dera in Haryana’s Sirsa, was murdered on July 10, 2002.
A First Information Report on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy was registered at the Thanesar police station.
On November 10, 2003, the high court ordered a CBI investigation into the case.
Why was Ranjit Singhmurdered?
According to the CBI, Ram Rahim suspected Ranjit Singh of circulating an anonymous letter that accused the Dera chief of sexually exploiting his female followers.
The same letter was reported upon by journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who was later murdered. Ram Rahim was convicted on murder charges in the Chhatrapati murder case.
Ram Rahim was subsequently accused of conspiring to kill Ranjit Singh for his purported act of circulating that letter.