Panchkula (Haryana): A Special CBI Court in Panchkula on Monday awarded life imprisonment to Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others in a 2002 murder case.

A special CBI Court in Panchkula on Monday awarded life imprisonment to Dera Sacha Sauda Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others, in a 2002 murder case.

The Court also slapped a fine of Rs. 31 lakh on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Rs. 50,000 on each remaining accused. The other four accused include Jasbir Singh, a follower of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh; Krishan Lal, a Manager of Dera Sacha Sauda; Sabdil, the gunman of Dera Chief and Avtar Singh, an important functionary of the sect.

“All five convicts including Ram Rahim have been awarded life sentence,” CBI Special Public Prosecutor H.P.S. Verma said.

Already serving prison terms for rape and another murder, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted on Oct. 8 for conspiring the murder of his former Manager Ranjit Singh in 2002. Ranjit Singh was shot dead by four assailants on July 10, 2002, at his native village in Kurukshetra’s Khanpur Kolian. While the Dera Chief appeared through video conferencing from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, where he is lodged, the four others were present in the Court at the time of sentencing.

The self-styled godman was produced before a Special CBI Court in Panchkula on Oct. 12, but the Court had reserved its order on the quantum of sentence and decided to hear the case on Monday.