Ahead of the hearings of two separate murder cases against Dera chief, Ram Rahim Singh, security has been tightened in Panchkula. The hearing will begin through video conferencing by Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh on Saturday.
Years ago, Dera followers and functionaries had allegedly murdered Sirsa-based journalist, Ram Chander Chhatrapati, and former Dera manager, Ranjit Singh in 2002 on Ram Rahim’s orders.
While Ranjit Singh was killed near his village in Kurukshetra district in July 2002, Chhatrapati was shot dead in front of his house in Sirsa in October 2002.
On 25, August, the Dera Chief had been convicted of raping two women followers and was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment by the Special CBI court.
He is currently serving his term in prison in Sunaria Jail near Rohtak. Since he can’t be physically produced before the court, the hearing will take place via a video call.
Although there have been no reports of Dera followers assembling in Panchkula ahead of the hearing, it has been revealed that the authorities are not compromising on any security measures.
Violence had erupted in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana and Punjab and Delhi after the verdict against the Dera chief was announced, where 38 people died and 264 were injured.
