Scribe murder case involving Dera chief adjourned to May 3

A special court today adjourned till May 3 hearing in a case of murder of a scribe in which Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is an accused.
   
CBI court judge AS Narang, conducting the trial in the murder of Sirsa journalist Ramchander Chatrpati, adjourned the hearing as the counsel of two of the accused were not present.
   
The defence counsel was to cross examine CBI witness Hari Daman, the younger son of the scribe. Daman is the prime prosecution witness in the case.
   
Chatrpati, the editor of a Sirsa-based eveninger, was shot dead in 2002. He had published a number of articles critical against the Dera in his newspaper.
   
Meanwhile, argument on the interim bail application of Avtar Singh, who is one of the accused in Dera functionary Ranjit murder case, was held in the CBI court today.
   
Singh had filed an interim bail application in the court on the ground that he had to get his children admitted to school and harvest his crops.
   
CBI counsel HPS Verma while opposing the bail application argued that the court had already dismissed his interim bail application earlier.
   
The judge adjourned the hearing in this case for April 13. The Dera chief is also an accused in this case.
   
Ranjit Singh, a follower of the Dera, was murdered in his native village Khanpur Kulian in 2002.