Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been convicted in Ram Chander Chhatrapati journalist murder case.
Highlights
- Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief is in jail for raping two of his followers
- Had been named as main conspirator in 2002 murder of journalist
- Journalist published account of Ram Rahim sexually exploiting women
Jailed self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim and three others have been convicted in the murder of a journalist by a special court in Haryana.
Ram Rahim, chief of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, was found guilty in the 2002 murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
"All the four accused have been convicted," HPS Verma, lawyer for the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI, told news agency PTI after judge Jagdeep Singh gave the verdict in Panchkula.
He will be sentenced on January 17.
Ram Rahim, 51, appeared before the court through video conferencing from Rohtak's Sunaria jail.
Journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati was murdered in 2002.
He is currently serving a 20-year prison term for raping two of his followers. His conviction in August 2017 had triggered riots in Panchkula, as his followers went berserk, that left 30 dead and property worth crores vandalised.
Ram Chander Chhatrapati was shot in October 2002 outside his house after his newspaper ''Poora Sach'' published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.
The case was registered in 2003 and handed over to the CBI in 2006.
Ram Rahim was named the main conspirator in the case.
The three others convicted are Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal, all close aides of Ram Rahim.
(With inputs from PTI)