Court posts murder case of Dera's former driver to October 21

PANCHKULA: A special CBI court here today posted to October 21 the hearing in the case of killing of former Dera Sacha Sauda manager Ranjit Singh, in which sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is an accused.

The disgraced cult leader, who is lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail on charges of rape, appeared via video- conferencing in the court of CBI judge Jagdeep Singh.

"The counsel of the three accused -- Jasbir Singh, Sabdil Singh and Indersen -- argued in court in their defence," CBI counsel H P S Verma said.

The court adjourned the case to October 21, he said.

Ram Rahim Singh has been named as the main conspirator in the Ranjit Singh murder case.

Besides Ram Rahim, the other accused in the case are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Sabdil Singh and Indersen.

Ranjit Singh was shot dead in 2002. He was murdered for his suspected role in the circulation of the anonymous letter, narrating how women were being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

The CBI court is also hearing a case of killing of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati who was shot at in October 2002 after a newspaper owned by him, 'Poora Sach', published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters.

The hearing in the case will take place on October 27.

Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20-year imprisonment for raping two women.

On August 25, after the CBI court convicted Ram Rahim of rape, violence erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa in which 41 people were killed.