Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder of manager Ranjit Singh nearly two decades ago.
The four others are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil.
The court slapped a fine of Rs 31 lakh on dera chief, Rs 1.50 lakh on Sabdil, Rs 1.25 lakh each on Jasbir and Krishan and Rs 75,000 on Avtar.
50 per cent of fine amount will go to victim’s family.
The dera chief, who is currently lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail since his conviction in 2017 for raping his two disciples, appeared through video-conferencing, while the other four were present in the court. Former dera manager Ranjit Singh, who was also a follower of the sect, was shot dead in 2002.
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Tight security arrangements were made at the Panchkula district court complex for the hearing. The authorities imposed prohibitory orders against the assembly of five or more people in the entire district anticipating violence by the followers of the convicted godman. As many as 36 people were killed in Panchkula in August 2017 after a local court convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a rape case.
The self-styled godman was produced before a special CBI court in Panchkula on October 12, but the court reserved its order on the quantum of sentence and decided to hear the case on Monday.
(With inputs from agencies)
