The court will pronounce the sentence on January 17.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the disgraced godman who is in jail for raping his followers, and three of his followers were convicted of killing a journalist 16 years ago by a special CBI court in Panchkula on Friday. The court will pronounce the sentence on January 17.
CBI judge Jagdeep Singh found the four guilty of criminal conspiracy and murdering Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati after his newspaper published a letter in 2002 alleging sexual exploitation of women by the godman.
"This is another triumph of justice for us. It was a long and challenging battle and I am glad truth has prevailed and the guilty have been brought to book," CBI counsel HPS Verma said.
The cult leader, who is currently serving time in Sunaria Jail in Rohtak for raping two of his followers, appeared for the hearing through video conference. The CBI had earlier accepted the application moved by Haryana Police to produce him via video conferencing.
The other three convicts, Krishan Lal, Kuldeep Singh and Nirmal Singh, were present in the court and were taken into custody right after the verdict was announced. They will be taken to Ambala jail.
Sources told DNA that Gurmeet, who kept a straight face throughout the hearing, broke down upon hearing the verdict. They said he stood there with folded hands, shifting his feet every few minutes.
None of Gurmeet's disciples, hundreds of whom went on a rampage in Panchkula and nearby cities after he was convicted of rape on August 25, 2017, was present on the heavily guarded court premises. His outfit Dera Sachha Sauda's meditation hall in Sector 23 also wore a deserted look, barring two caretakers.
In anticipation of backlash to the verdict on Friday, the district bar association had suspended work for the day, the state police had beefed up security in Panchkula and Rohtak, the city police had heavily barricaded the court, and Sunaria Jail had been fortified with two-tier security.
But the day passed by free of any incident, except for the cheer that spread through lawyers, journalists and others gathered outside the court once news of the conviction reached them. Sweets were distributed outside the court by journalists who hailed the verdict a victory for "one of their own".
Scribe was shot at home
In May 2002, Chhatrapati had published an anonymous letter in his paper, Poora Sach, detailing harrowing account of girls and women being sexually exploited by Gurmeet at the Dera in Sirsa.
On the evening of October 24, 2002, he was shot at his residence by Kuldeep Singh and Nirmal Singh using Krishan Lal's licensed .32 bore revolver.
The journalist was rushed to a government hospital and then referred to PGIMS, Rohtak, before being shifted to Apollo Hospital, New Delhi on November 8, 2002. He succumbed days later, on November 21.
While Kuldeep was arrested from the spot immediately after the shooting, Nirmal was nabbed on October 26, 2002. The police recovered from his possession a walkie talkie which belonged to the Dera as well as Lal's revolver.
The Haryana police filed a charge sheet in December 2002, but did not name the Dera chief. Chhatrapati's son, Anshul, then moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which transferred the case to the CBI in November 2003.
In its charge sheet, the agency said it had established that the four had hatched a conspiracy to kill the journalist following the publication of the article.
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