Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others were today sentenced to life imprisonment in Journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati murder case by the special CBI court in Panchkula. A fine of 50,000 rupees each has also been imposed by the court.
Last week, the court had found them guilty of murder and conspiracy and convicted them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The journalist was murdered in Sirsa city in Haryana in 2002 after he ran a story in his newspaper about the alleged sexual exploitation of women by the Dera chief.
Ram Rahim, who is currently serving a 20-year term in connection with another case, appeared for the hearing via video-conferencing. The state had sought permission for the same as a precautionary measure, citing the violence that broke out after his conviction in 2017. The other three convicts, Krishan Lal, Kuldeep Singh and Nirmal Singh, were allowed to appear before court.
