Ahead of Saturday’s hearing in two murder cases against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, elaborate security arrangements have been made in Panchkula with the deployment of paramilitary troops and Haryana Police.
55-year old rape convict Ram Rahim will appear before a CBI special court in Panchkula through video conferencing from the Rohtak jail where is lodged after being sentenced to 20 years in prison in two rape cases.
The CBI court is hearing the cases of murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
Haryana Director General of Police BS Sandhu while talking to the mediapersons on Friday said, “We have made adequate security arrangements ahead of the hearing in the cases,” Contingents of paramilitary troops and the Haryana Police have been stationed in Panchkula to prevent any untoward incident and the hearing in the cases against Ram Rahim will be conducted through video conferencing, Sandhu said.
Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years in jail on August 28 in the two rape cases by the special CBI Court.
Several parts of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan had witnessed violence following his conviction in the two rape cases on August 25. 41 people were killed in Haryana in the violence.
Sirsa-based journalist Chhatrapati was shot dead in October 2002 after the evening newspaper ‘Poora Sach’, owned by him, published an anonymous letter narrating how women were allegedly being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.
The second case relates to the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh who was allegedly shot dead in 2002. He was murdered for his suspected role in the circulation of the anonymous letter, which had made the sexual exploitation allegations.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had in November 2003 ordered a CBI probe into the murder of Chhatrapati and Ranjit Singh after the families of both the victims approached the court.