Dera Sacha Sauda Chief, 4 Others Sentenced To Life For Murder Of Former Manager

Panchkula: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of the spiritual sect Dera Sacha Sauda, and four others were on Monday sentenced to life for the murder of his former manager Ranjit Singh.

Along with the sect chief, who has been in jail since his conviction in 2017 for raping two disciples, a special CBI court on October 8 had found Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdi guilty for the murder in 2002, but reserved the order on the quantum of sentence.

The court in Panchkula, Haryana, also slapped a fine of Rs 31 lakh on Gurmeet Ram Rahim and Rs 1.5 lakh on Sabdil while Krishnan and Jasbir have been told to pay Rs 1.25 lakh each and Avtar Rs  75,000, NDTV reported.

Fifty per cent of this amount will go to Ranjit Singh’s family, the report added.

The sixth accused in the case had died a year ago.

Also Read: Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Convicted For Murder; 8 Godmen And Their ‘Ungodly’ Acts

Former Dera manager Ranjit Singh was shot dead in 2002 after Gurmeet suspected him of circulating an anonymous letter that narrated how women were being sexually exploited by him.

In 2017, a special CBI court had sentenced Dera head to 20 years of imprisonment for raping two of his female followers. In January 2019, he was also sentenced to life in jail for the murder of a journalist.