Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's troubles are far from over. Convicted and serving his sentence in prison for rape, the Dera chief on Saturday will appear via video conferencing before a CBI special court that is hearing two separate murder cases against him.
The cases, related to the murder of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, allegedly carried out by functionaries and followers of the sect, will be held in the court of special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh.
The same court had, on August 25, convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on two counts of rape of female disciples.
Security has been tightened in Panchkula town in Haryana ahead of a crucial hearing in two separate murder cases against the Dera chief and others here on Saturday. Haryana Director General of Police B S Sandhu said on Friday that adequate paramilitary and Haryana Police personnel had been stationed around the court complex in Sector 1 here and in other areas in Panchkula town to maintain law and order.
Here are the details about the cases and Ram Rahim that you need to know:
1) Chhatrapati and Ranjit Singh were murdered in 2002. The sect chief is an accused in both murder cases as these were carried out allegedly at his behest.
2) Chhatrapati, a journalist who wrote extensively about the activities of the Dera, was shot from point-blank range right outside his house on October 24, 2002, according to an IndiaToday report that details the struggle of the journalist's son to get justice for his father. (Read more here)
3) According to the report, Chhatrapati was killed months after he published the anonymous letter written by an anonymous Sadhvi addressed to then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee accusing the Dera chief of rape. It was this letter that set off the chain of events leading to the Dera Chief's imprisonment. (Read more here)
4) The other case is regarding the murder of Dera follower Ranjit Singh. According to the Indian Express, Singh's family has alleged that he was killed because he was suspected of being involved in the aforementioned anonymous letter. Singh was murdered on July 10, 2002. (Read more here)
5) Police officials said that rapist Ram Rahim will not be physically produced in the CBI special court on Saturday. The hearing will take place through video conferencing as Ram Rahim is lodged in the District Jail in Sunaria near Rohtak.
6) Ram Rahim was sentenced on August 28 to 20 years in jail for the rape and criminal intimidation of two female disciples.
7) The Dera chief's conviction in the two rape cases also places the odds against him. Citing sources from the CBI, an Economic Times report explained that the guilty verdict in those cases would be used by the CBI to argue Ram Rahim's antecedents. "Antecedents of an accused hold prime importance during a trial. If an accused is found to have doubtful antecedents the case against him is strengthened...," a top CBI official told the financial daily. (Read more here)
8) His conviction led to violence in Panchkula and Sirsa in Haryana, leaving 38 people dead and 264 injured. Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from Delhi and several other places in Punjab.
9) There are no reports of Dera followers assembling in Panchkula ahead of Saturday's hearing, unlike the rape case hearing where over 100,000 followers had converged in the town.
10) Secret tunnels, including one that linked the jailed sect chief's plush residence with the female disciples' hostel, an empty box of AK-47 cartridges, an illegal firecracker factory were among the shocking discoveries made during the recent search operations at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa.