A special court awarded life imprisonment to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others in the murder case of journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati. Ram Rahim is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two of his female followers.

Chhatrapati, a journalist who published Poora Sach, a local daily, was shot in October 2002 and subsequently died in November of the same year. Katta Singh, a former driver of Ram Rahim’s, had told the court that the Dera chief had ordered the killing of Chhatrapati.

Chhatrapati had been the first one to publish an anonymous letter about the rape of a sadhvi by Ram Rahim, when other corporate media houses refused to. Read Newslaundry‘s detailed report on how he was instrumental in nailing Ram Rahim’s crimes.

NDTV reports that there are elaborate security arrangements in place in Panchkula and Sirsa – headquarters of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect headed by Ram Rahim – and other parts of Haryana to maintain law and order situation.