:dateline:The Panchkula based Special CBI Court today addressed life sentence to Sirsa cult chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in the murder case of Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. Three others, namely Kuldeep, Nirmal and Krishan Lal have been also addressed the same quantum of sentence by the Court.
Initial reports reveal that the Sirsa cult chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim appeared before the Court via video conference.
The CBI Court said in its verdict that the punishment addressed in this case will commence when Gurmeet Ram Rahim serves the punishment of 20 years imprisonment addressed to him for raping his two female disciples.�
During the debate over quantum of sentence, the CBI demanded the death penalty for Gurmeet Ram Rahim by terming the case as the rarest of rare because the main culprit of this case has been already held guilty of raping his female disciples but the Court addressed him life imprisonment only. �
Beside it, the CBI also sought compensation for the family of Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.
Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati was killed by the two Sirsa cult disciples Kuldeep and Nirmal on October 24, 2002 who later succumbed to his injuries on November 21, 2002, at Apollo Hospital, New Delhi.
Kuldeep, who had shot at Chhatrapati outside his house, had arrived on the scene with Nirmal on a scooter. Nirmal had managed to flee on the scooter, but the police had nabbed Kuldeep from the spot. He had revealed the name of cult manager Krishan Lal who had provided a revolver to them.
During the investigation, it had come to fore that the Sirsa cult chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim had ordered Kuldeep, Nirmal and Krishan Lal to murder Journalist Chhatrapati as he had exposed the reality of sexual exploitation of female disciples in the Sirsa cult in May-2002.
