ROHTAK (HARYANA): Cult leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim who has been lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail after a CBI court convicted him for raping two of her female followers, now faces hearing in two murder cases where he is cited as the main conspirator.
Panchkula DCP Manbir Singh said, “Hearing has begun. Ram Rahim has also appeared through video conferencing.” The self-styled godman's former driver Khatta Singh, meanwhile, has moved an application before the court, urging it to re-record his statement. Singh was a witness in the murder cases against Ram Rahim and had recorded his statement in 2007. He, however, turned against his boss stating he was under pressure from “baba and his goons”.
The Panchkula court has issued notice to CBI and Ram Rahim on the plea for September 22, seeking responses whether Khatta Singh can be allowed to depose at the end of the trial. Khatta, in his application, has claimed that he was living in the Sirsa-based Dera when the crimes were committed in 2002, and that he has personal knowledge about the circumstances in which victims Ranjit Singh and Chhatarpati were killed. While the former was killed near his village in Kurukshetra district in July 2002, the latter was shot dead in front of his house in Sirsa a couple of months later in October the same year. CBI claims that both of them were killed at Ram Rahim's orders after they tried to expose the nefarious activities of dera.
