The court has acquitted four others as well in the case.
On July 10, 2002 Ranjeet Singh was shot dead in Kurkshetra's Khanpur colony. The trial court held that Singh was murdered on the directions of Ram Rahim.
The Punjab and Haryana high court today acquitted the Dera Sacha Sauda chief in the murder case of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
Ram Rahim was convicted by special CBI court Panchkula in rape and two murder cases related to killing of journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.
He moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against conviction in all four cases. While his appeals in rape cases and Ram Chander Chhattarpati murder case are still pending, he was acquitted in Ranjit Singh's murder case today. He is currently lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail.
It was alleged that Ram Rahim got Ranjit Singh eliminated for his suspected role in the circulation of an anonymous letter, which narrated how women were being sexually exploited by the Dera chief. The CBI court while convicting Ram Rahim had observed in its detailed order that the Dera chief was aggrieved over the letter circulated which exposed the allegations of rape and exploitation of Sadhvis in his ashram. Ranjit Singh was suspected by him to have a role in circulating the letter.
Four others acquitted today include Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh and Sabdil Singh. The CBI court not only awarded life sentence to the five of them but also slapped a fine of Rs 31 lakh on Ram Rahim, Rs 1.50 lakh on Sabdil, Rs 1.25 lakh each on Jasbir and Krishan and Rs 75,000 on Avtar.
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