Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been convicted for the murder of a journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

A CBI court in Panchkula on Friday convicted Ram Rahim Singh and three others for the murder of Chhatrapati, 16 years ago.  The quantum of sentence for the four convicts will be pronounced by the special CBI court Judge Jagdeep Singh on January 17.

The same court had convicted the Sirsa based dera chief on two counts of rape on August 25, 2017 and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Sirsa-based journalist Chhatrapati was shot at in October 2002 after a newspaper owned by him, published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters.

The 51-year- old dera chief appeared before the CBI court through video conferencing from the Sunaria prison near Rohtak, where he is already serving the 20-year sentence.

The other three accused - Kuldeep Singh, a former manager of the sect and Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal, who were both carpenters and followers of the sect – appeared in person at the Panchkula court. After the verdict, they were immediately taken into custody by the police and shifted to Ambala jail following a medical examination.

“All the four accused have been convicted under section 302 (murder) and 120 B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code,” CBI counsel HPS Verma said.

Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal have also been convicted under the Arms Act, he said.

The quantum of sentence will be announced on January 17, he added.

After the verdict, the son of journalist Ram Chandra Chhatrapati, Anshul Chhatrapati demanded capital punishment for the self-styled Godman.

Anshul Chhatrapati, while talking to the mediapersons outside the CBI court  said,“Such a man is not fit to live in our society. We demand that he should be given capital punishment."

"We were hoping for the past 16-17 years that we would get justice. We have got justice today after suffering for so long," Anshul said.

"We had to face a lot of difficulties and suffer a lot as he (Ram Rahim) was very powerful. We thank the CBI team that investigated the case and supported us,” he added.

Ram Chander Chhatrapati was shot at outside his house in 2002. He had later succumbed to his injuries and a case was registered in 2003.

Chhatrapati’s family had later approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2003, seeking the transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

According to the CBI chargesheet filed in the murder case, Dera manager Krishan Lal had given his licenced revolver and a walkie-talkie to two shooters in the presence of Ram Rahim. Thereafter, both accused fired at Chhatarpati in front of his house on October 24, 2002.

Khatta Singh, the former driver of dera chief was a key witness in the murder case.

In May 2018, Khatta Singh had told the CBI Court that Ram Rahim had ordered his men to eliminate the Sirsa-based journalist in his presence.

On Friday, Khatta Singh said that he was satisfied that justice has been done.

To avert the violence that rocked Panchkula and Sirsa towns in Haryana following Ram Rahim’s conviction for rape in August 2017, tight security arrangements were made in and around the court complex in Panchkula, Rohtak and Sirsa (headquarters of dera)  by Haryana Police.

Panchkula had witnessed massive violence after the conviction of Ram Rahim in rape cases of two followers inside the dera premises in Sirsa. More than 40 people were killed, over 260 were wounded and property worth crores of rupees was damaged within few hours of his conviction in Panchkula.

At that time, the sect leader had come to the Panchkula court where the CBI court judge had pronounced the verdict.  The judge had later travelled to Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, where Ram Rahim was lodged, to pronounce the sentence in the rape case.

This time, Ram Rahim appeared before the CBI court through video conferencing in view of security concerns raised by the Haryana Police and the State Government.

Security was increased around the sect’s headquarters campus on the outskirts of Sirsa town and sect followers were not allowed to gather in big numbers. In Punjab where there are sizeable numbers of Dera followers, elaborate security arrangements were made in Bathinda and Ferozepur ranges

The situation on Friday remained peaceful and security forces in Haryana and Punjab will remain on alert in the coming days in view of announcement of sentence in the murder case on January 17, said a police officer.

Dera chief Ram Rahim is also facing the Ranjit Singh murder case before the same CBI court where he is an accused along with Krishan Lal, Jasbir, Indersen, Avtaar, and Sabdil.

Former Dera manager Ranjit Singh was shot dead in July 2002. He is alleged to have been murdered for his suspected role in circulating an anonymous letter which made allegations of sexual exploitation against the Dera head.