The
Dera
Sacha
Sauda
chief
Gurmeet
Ram
Rahim
Singh
who
is
also
known
for
appearing
in
the
MSG
franchise
films
has
been
sentenced
to
life
imprisonment
along
with
four
other
accused
in
the
murder
case
of
Ranjit
Singh
by
a
Special
CBI
court
on
Monday
(October
18).
According
to
a
news
report
in
Indian
Express,
the
prosecution
had
completed
its
arguments
on
the
last
date
of
hearing
that
was
on
October
12
and
had
demanded
capital
punishment
for
the
actor-singer.
However,
the
court
had
gone
on
to
defer
the
hearing
after
the
defence
counsel
requested
some
time
for
their
rebuttal
arguments.
The
report
further
stated
that
Gurmeet
Ram
Rahim
Singh
is
already
serving
a
rape
sentence
in
Sunaria
district
jail
in
Rohtak.
The
Dera
Sacha
Sauda
chief
was
convicted
on
the
murder
case
of
Ranjit
Singh
by
the
special
CBI
court
on
October
8.
He
was
convicted
along
with
the
other
four
accused
namely
Avtar
Singh,
Sabdil
Singh,
Jasbir
Singh
and
Krishan
Lal.
Along
with
the
life
imprisonment
sentence,
Gurmeet
Ram
Rahim
has
also
been
levied
with
a
fine
of
Rs
31
lakh,
half
of
which
will
go
to
Ranjit
Singh's
son.
The
news
report
further
added
that
the
court
had
reserved
its
order
on
August
18.
The
court
was
supposed
to
pronounce
the
order
on
August
26
but
the
same
was
pending
due
to
the
murder
victim's
son
Jagseer
Singh
filing
a
petition
in
the
Punjab
and
Haryana
High
Court
seeking
the
transfer
of
his
late
father's
case
to
another
CBI
judge.
Talking
about
the
victim
Ranjit
Singh,
he
was
a
follower
of
Gurmeet
Ram
Rahim
Singh
and
a
manager
of
the
Dera
in
Sirsa,
Haryana.
Ranjit
was
shot
dead
on
July
10,
2002.
According
to
a
charge
sheet
by
the
CBI
in
the
murder
investigation,
Gurmeet
Ram
Rahim
suspected
Ranjit
of
circulating
an
anonymous
letter
amongst
his
disciples
wherein
he
exposed
the
actor
sexually
exploiting
his
women
followers.
The
news
report
further
went
on
to
say
that
in
his
last
hearing,
Gurmeet
Ram
Rahim
Singh,
in
his
eight-page
statement
submitted
to
the
court
had
pleaded
for
leniency
in
his
sentence
citing
his
vast
philanthropic
work
to
be
one
of
the
reasons.
The
MSG:
The
Warrior
Lion
Heart
actor
furthermore
stated
that
his
many
followers
at
the
Dera
have
become
like
his
family.
Gurmeet
Ram
Rahim
is
currently
serving
a
20-year
prison
term
for
the
murder
of
a
journalist
Ram
Chander
Chhatrapati
and
for
raping
2
of
his
female
followers.
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