HC acquits Dera chief Ram Rahim in murder case of ex-manager

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday acquitted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the murder case of his former manager Ranjit Singh.

The leader of the Sirsa-based sect, who is also serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two of his followers, is currently in Sunaria Jail in Rohtak, Haryana.

“The Supreme Court has acquitted him in the Ranjit Singh murder case,” said the Dera chief’s lawyer, Jitender Khurana.

In 2021, a special CBI court sentenced Ram Rahim and four others to life imprisonment in the 19-year-old murder case of Ranjit Singh, a former manager of the Dera.

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

He was murdered because he was allegedly involved in distributing an anonymous letter describing how women were sexually exploited by the cult leader at the Dera headquarters.

After his conviction by the CBI court in Panchkula, the cult leader appealed to the Supreme Court.