Dera chief gets life term for murdering journalist

PANCHKULA: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been sentenced to life imprisonment along with three others by a special Panchkula court for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. Special CBI Court Judge Jagdeep Singh had convicted the self-styled godman and Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh, and Krishan Lal in the 17 year old murder case on January 11. All four were convicted under Section 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal were also convicted under the Arms Act. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently serving a 20 year prison term in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for raping two of his women followers. The journalist was killed in Haryana's Sirsa in 2002 after his newspaper published a letter alleging sexual exploitation of women by the godman.