Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was on Friday convicted by a special CBI court for the murder of a journalist in 2002.

The special CBI court in Panchkula convicted Ram Rahim and three others in the case. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on January 17. Ram Rahim appeared through video conferencing for the hearing.

Chhatrapati was shot at point-blank range at his residence in Sirsa on October 24, 2002, months after his newspaper ‘Poora Sach’ published an anonymous letter alleging how women finding solace in the dera as sadhvis were sexually harassed and raped by Ram Rahim.

Three weeks later, Chhatrapati succumbed to his injuries. According to the CBI chargesheet, dera manager Krishan Lal had given his licenced revolver and a walkie-talkie of the dera to two shooters — Kuldeep Singh and Nirmal Singh — in the presence of the dera chief.

The 51-year-old sect head is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for raping two of his women followers. Security had been beefed up in Haryana and parts of Punjab ahead of the court’s verdict with the court complex turning into a fortress.

Violence had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa in Haryana in August 2017 following the conviction of Dera sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, leaving over 40 persons dead and scores of people injured.

First Published: Jan 11, 2019 15:30 IST