Chandigarh: Ahead of the June 1 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, on Tuesday, acquitted Sirsa Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Singh Ram Rahim in the murder case of Ranjit Singh.
Ranjit Singh, manager of the Dera, was shot dead in 2002 after the suspicion that he had leaked a letter in which it was narrated how women were being sexually exploited by Dera chief.
The high court verdict came on the appeal of Dera chief challenging the October 2021 verdict by the special CBI Court in Panchkula. He, along with four others, was awarded life imprisonment.
The Dera chief, who is currently lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail, was earlier also convicted in Sadhvi rape cases and journalist Ram Chander Chattrapati murder case. Appeals in those cases were still pending.