The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, more than seven years after he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the matter. The acquittal was confirmed on Saturday by Singh’s lawyer Jitender Khurana.
“The court has acquitted him in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati,” Khurana said.
Who Was Ram Chander Chhatrapati and How Was He Killed?
Ram Chander Chhatrapati was a journalist in Haryana’s Sirsa who ran a newspaper called Poora Sach. In October 2002, his newspaper published an anonymous letter that described the alleged sexual exploitation of women followers at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa. Shortly after the publication, Chhatrapati was shot outside his own home. He later died from his injuries.
Singh and three others were convicted in 2019 by a special CBI court for their role in the murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment. The High Court has now set aside that conviction.
Ram Rahim Remains in Jail for Rape
Despite the acquittal in the murder case, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will remain behind bars. He is currently serving a separate 20-year jail sentence handed down in 2017 after he was convicted of raping two of his woman disciples. He has been lodged in Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak since his conviction in that case.
