CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government, in a detailed report submitted to the Punjab and Haryana high court, claimed that Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim was not a ‘hardcore criminal’ as he was not the assailant and had not executed the actual killings in the two murder cases that he has been convicted for. According to the state government, the Sirsa dera chief was only convicted for hatching a criminal conspiracy with the co-accused for these two murders.
The dera chief was sentenced to 20-year imprisonment — 10 years each for two cases — for raping two women in August 2017. The terms will run consecutively. In January 2019, along with three others, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati in 2002. He was convicted in October 2021 along with four others for the murder of former dera manager Ranjit Singh in 2002 and sentenced to life.
