HC acquits Dera Chief Ram Rahim in 2002 ex-manager's murder case

AMRITSAR: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of involvement in the murder of the sect's former manager Ranjit Singh in 2002.

Singh is lodged in Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, where he's also serving a 20-year jail term for the rape of two of his disciples.

In last week's Lok Sabha polls in Haryana, Dera had extended support to the BJP, especially in Sirsa, where it is located.


In Punjab, Dera has a huge following in the Malwa region.

BJP candidates in Punjab have been facing criticism in the aftermath of the farmers' protests, and have been shown black flags by farmers during campaigning.

Singh's lawyer Jitender Khurana said the court acquitted him and four others in the murder case.

He said a division bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Lalit Batra pronounced the decision on the appeals filed by Singh and the four others who were convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in October 2021 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Dera chief had been held guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused.

Ranjit Singh, who was also a follower of the sect, was shot dead on July 10, 2002, at Khanpur Kolian village in Haryana's Kurukshetra.

It is alleged that he was murdered for his suspected role in the circulation of an anonymous letter, which narrated how women were being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters.

According to the CBI charge sheet, the Dera chief believed that Ranjit Singh was behind the circulation of the anonymous letter and hatched a conspiracy to kill him.

In 2017, the Dera chief was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two disciples. In 2019, he and three others were also convicted for the murder of a journalist, more than 16 years ago.