The Special CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) Court today (August 28)<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/dera-sacha-sauda-chief-sentenced-to-20-years-in-jail-for-rape-19583"> announced the quantum of punishment for Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh</a>, sentencing him to 20 years in prison. WION correspondent, Sneha Mukherjee spoke with Anshul, the son of slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who first unmasked the unholy deeds of the Dera chief through his newspaper, &#39;Poora Sach&#39;.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Q: Knowing the risks involved, political interference (in investigations), and life threats, what motivated your father to take up the fight against the Dera?&nbsp;

A: He understood the repercussions of his decision, but he took it as a challenge to expose the lies (of the Dera chief). He was committed to truth.&nbsp;

Q: Apart from the already mentioned cases in court against the Dera, what were the other things happening inside?&nbsp; 
 
A: There was a sadhu (spiritual practitioner) named Fakir Chand who went missing one fine day. When enquiries were made near the Dera, the disappearance was tracked back to the Dera Pramukh (chief). It was said&nbsp;the sadhu was murdered because he knew too much. Nothing was done in this case. The followers ransacked the &nbsp;police station where a case was registered about his disappearance.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Q: What happened prior to and on October 24, 2002?&nbsp; 
 
A: My father was continuously getting threat calls and on October 24, 2002 two followers of the Dera came to our house and shot him. One of them was nabbed by a police constable while they were running away. The recovered revolver belonged to Kishan Lal, then the Dera manager. Later other evidences were unearthed that made it clear that this act was a conspiracy by the Dera Sacha Sauda.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
After the incident, he was admitted for 28 days in hospital. He was fully conscious and used to walk and talk during the first two weeks, but the police did not record his statement in the presence of a magistrate.&nbsp; 
 
When they later came to record a statement, my father very specifically reported that, the Dera chief was involved in this act. After his demise, we came to know that his allegations were omitted by the police from the statement.&nbsp; 
It was crystal clear that the state government was hand-in-glove with the Dera and were protecting them by creating pressure on the police force.&nbsp;

Q: At the age of 21, what was the first step in your fight to get justice after your father was killed?&nbsp; 
 
A: After realising the fact that the police were not there to protect us, but they would protect murderers, We challenged the police investigation in Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2003. I moved a petition demanding a CBI investigation in the matter. &nbsp; 
 
I was never alone in my fight, there were people who supported me. These were people who loved my father as a writer and journalist. They protested and campaigned with me in different pockets in Haryana.&nbsp;

One such campaign, Jan Sangharsh, was attacked by Dera members. Instead of protecting the victims, the state police took us in custody and refused to lodge a case against them. My father&#39;s friends who were lawyers helped me register this case in Punjab and Haryana High Court after which our legal battle that we see today was shaped slowly.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Q: As per you, what delayed justice for more than a decade? 
 
A: The CBI investigation was continuously being hindered by Congress and other local political parties. I give all the credit of bringing this case to justice to the CBI investigating officer who, against all odds and pressure from various political parties, did his work diligently. It is because of his work that today we have been able to seek justice.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Q: Going ahead where does your fight take you next?&nbsp; 
 
A: This is just the beginning. The judgment can be challenged in higher courts and we have braced ourselves to fight for justice till the end.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

WION correspondent, Sneha Mukherjee spoke with Anshul, the son of slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapat

The Special CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) Court today (August 28) announced the quantum of punishment for Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, sentencing him to 20 years in prison. WION correspondent, Sneha Mukherjee spoke with Anshul, the son of slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who first unmasked the unholy deeds of the Dera chief through his newspaper, 'Poora Sach'. Q: Knowing the risks involved, political interference (in investigations), and life threats, what motivated your father to take up the fight against the Dera? A: He understood the repercussions of his decision, but he took it as a challenge to expose the lies (of the Dera chief). He was committed to truth. Q: Apart from the already mentioned cases in court against the Dera, what were the other things happening inside? A: There was a sadhu (spiritual practitioner) named Fakir Chand who went missing one fine day. When enquiries were made near the Dera, the disappearance was tracked back to the Dera Pramukh (chief). It was said the sadhu was murdered because he knew too much. Nothing was done in this case. The followers ransacked the police station where a case was registered about his disappearance. Q: What happened prior to and on October 24, 2002? A: My father was continuously getting threat calls and on October 24, 2002 two followers of the Dera came to our house and shot him. One of them was nabbed by a police constable while they were running away. The recovered revolver belonged to Kishan Lal, then the Dera manager. Later other evidences were unearthed that made it clear that this act was a conspiracy by the Dera Sacha Sauda. After the incident, he was admitted for 28 days in hospital. He was fully conscious and used to walk and talk during the first two weeks, but the police did not record his statement in the presence of a magistrate. When they later came to record a statement, my father very specifically reported that, the Dera chief was involved in this act. After his demise, we came to know that his allegations were omitted by the police from the statement. It was crystal clear that the state government was hand-in-glove with the Dera and were protecting them by creating pressure on the police force. Q: At the age of 21, what was the first step in your fight to get justice after your father was killed? A: After realising the fact that the police were not there to protect us, but they would protect murderers, We challenged the police investigation in Punjab and Haryana High Court in January 2003. I moved a petition demanding a CBI investigation in the matter. I was never alone in my fight, there were people who supported me. These were people who loved my father as a writer and journalist. They protested and campaigned with me in different pockets in Haryana. One such campaign, Jan Sangharsh, was attacked by Dera members. Instead of protecting the victims, the state police took us in custody and refused to lodge a case against them. My father's friends who were lawyers helped me register this case in Punjab and Haryana High Court after which our legal battle that we see today was shaped slowly. Q: As per you, what delayed justice for more than a decade? A: The CBI investigation was continuously being hindered by Congress and other local political parties. I give all the credit of bringing this case to justice to the CBI investigating officer who, against all odds and pressure from various political parties, did his work diligently. It is because of his work that today we have been able to seek justice. Q: Going ahead where does your fight take you next? A: This is just the beginning. The judgment can be challenged in higher courts and we have braced ourselves to fight for justice till the end.

WION Web Exclusive: 'My father was shot for exposing Ram Rahim, but his readers helped me'

Violent protests erupted in India&#39;s northern states of Punjab and Haryana, which later spread to Delhi, Noida and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh, after the guilty verdict against Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim, head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect. Ram Rahim was found guilty of raping two sadhvis or female renunciates. This is literally vindication for Ram Chander Chhatrapati, Sirsa (Haryana) based regional journalist, who was shot at point-blank range 15 years ago for exposing the Dera chief&#39;s murky deeds right outside his house.

Chhatrapati published an anonymous letter in his independent newspaper &#39;Poora Sachh&#39; (The Complete Truth). The letter&nbsp;addressed to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee&nbsp;disclosed the details of Gurmeet Ram Rahim&#39;s dirty deeds and allegations of rape and sexual exploitation of women followers.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Lest we forget: 15 yrs ago, journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, was shot dead for bringing out <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RamRahimSingh?src=hash">#RamRahimSingh</a>&#39;s rape case out in the public. <a href="https://t.co/2Xu7pTKc2K">pic.twitter.com/2Xu7pTKc2K</a>
&mdash; Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) <a href="https://twitter.com/ghaywan/status/901061218948993025">August 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
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He was killed on October 24, 2002, only a few months after the three-page letter was published. Chhatrapati&#39;s son, Anshul, who was 21 at time of his father&#39;s murder, has been fighting for justice for the past 15 years. As the rape cases&nbsp;against Ram&nbsp;Rahim were being heard in the Special CBI Court on Thursday, the murder case of Ram Chander Chhatrapati was also being heard in the same court. 
 
Ram Rahim encountered the rage of Sikh radicals in the past when he dressed up in attire similar to the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, in 2007. 
 
The Punjab and Haryana High Court took the anonymous letter published in Chhatrapati&#39;s newspaper into consideration and directed then district and sessions judge in Sirsa to order a probe into the matter. Justice was served today to the rape victims who first raised their voices. Justice is awaited for Anshul&#39;s father.

Chattrapati's murder was a consequence of an anonymous letter published in his newspaper "Poora Sachh". The letter addressed to then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee disclosed the gory details of rapes by Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Violent protests erupted in India's northern states of Punjab and Haryana, which later spread to Delhi, Noida and other parts of western Uttar Pradesh, after the guilty verdict against Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim, head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect. Ram Rahim was found guilty of raping two sadhvis or female renunciates. This is literally vindication for Ram Chander Chhatrapati, Sirsa (Haryana) based regional journalist, who was shot at point-blank range 15 years ago for exposing the Dera chief's murky deeds right outside his house. Chhatrapati published an anonymous letter in his independent newspaper 'Poora Sachh' (The Complete Truth). The letter addressed to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee disclosed the details of Gurmeet Ram Rahim's dirty deeds and allegations of rape and sexual exploitation of women followers. Lest we forget: 15 yrs ago, journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, was shot dead for bringing out #RamRahimSingh's rape case out in the public. pic.twitter.com/2Xu7pTKc2K — Neeraj Ghaywan (@ghaywan) August 25, 2017 × He was killed on October 24, 2002, only a few months after the three-page letter was published. Chhatrapati's son, Anshul, who was 21 at time of his father's murder, has been fighting for justice for the past 15 years. As the rape cases against Ram Rahim were being heard in the Special CBI Court on Thursday, the murder case of Ram Chander Chhatrapati was also being heard in the same court. Ram Rahim encountered the rage of Sikh radicals in the past when he dressed up in attire similar to the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, in 2007. The Punjab and Haryana High Court took the anonymous letter published in Chhatrapati's newspaper into consideration and directed then district and sessions judge in Sirsa to order a probe into the matter. Justice was served today to the rape victims who first raised their voices. Justice is awaited for Anshul's father.

Journalist who exposed Dera Sacha Sauda chief was shot outside his house 15 years ago

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