Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gets life imprisonment for journalist's murder
Panchkula (Haryana), Jan 17: A special CBI court in Panchkula Thursday sentenced self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist over 16 years ago.
The Dera Sacha Sauda chief and the three others convicted last Friday in the case appeared before the court through video conferencing.
"All four have been sentenced to life imprisonment," CBI counsel H P S Verma said.
On January 11, special CBI Court judge Jagdeep Singh had convicted the four men for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati in 2002.
All the four were convicted under section 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Ram Rahim appeared through video conferencing from Sunaria jail in Rohtak, where he is already serving a 20-year-sentence in a rape case.
The three others - Nirmal Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Krishan Lal - appeared from Ambala jail.
The journalist was killed in Haryana's Sirsa in October 2002 after his newspaper published an anonymous letter alleging sexual exploitation of women by the godman at the Dera headquarters in the same town.
Ram Rahim was named as the main conspirator in the case.
Chhatrapati's family approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2003, seeking the transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The investigation was later handed over to the CBI which filed the chargesheet in July 2007.
In August 2017, the sect leader was brought to the Panchkula court where the CBI court judge pronounced the verdict in rape case.
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Purported sleazy videos case: Action on suspended DGP after dept inquiry, says Home Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said that the government will decide on further action against the now-suspended DGP K Ramachandra Rao based on recommendations following a departmental inquiry into a case concerning videos purportedly showing him behaving obscenely with women in his office.
The minister's comments followed reports that the special probe committee has ruled out Rao's claims that the clips were fake and AI-generated.
"After further departmental inquiry, whatever they recommend, the government will decide based on that. The department has to give a report to the government, and based on the recommendation made, we will take a decision," Parameshwara told reporters here in response to a question.
Since Rao claimed the circulating videos were fake AI creations, they were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), the minister said in response to a question.
"A team was formed in the department to find the truth. They have submitted a report to the department. The department will have to inform the government about the same, based on which further action will be taken," he added.
The state government had formed a team of four IPS officers, led by R Hitendra, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order), to conduct a preliminary inquiry in the case.
The government in January suspended Rao, the 1993-batch IPS officer serving as the DGP, Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE), after viral videos purportedly showing him acting in an obscene manner surfaced.
The videos purportedly show the 59-year-old hugging and kissing women while in office. He was wearing a police uniform in a few videos. Rao had, however, called the videos "fabricated" and vowed to take legal action.
There were even reports that the videos were shot in 2016-17 inside the office of the Inspector General of Police - Belagavi range.
