Panchkula, Sep 16: The hearing of the two separate murder cases against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and others will be continued next week, court sources said.
Hearing in the matter, which began in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in Panchkula on Saturday amid tight security saw the sect chief taking part through video conferencing from the Rohtak District Jail, where he is lodged following his conviction in two rape cases on August 25.
Seven other accused in the murder cases were present in the court.
The sect chief’s counsel S.K. Garg told media that the hearing of the Ranjit Singh murder case will be held on Monday (September 18) and journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati murder case will be held on September 22.
Garg said that the final arguments will take some time to complete.
Meanwhile, the sect chief’s former driver, Khatta Singh, moved an application before the CBI court saying that he wanted to record a fresh statement in the murder case. His application will be taken up next week.
Khatta Singh had earlier given a statement in favour of the sect chief in the murder cases but now claimed that he did it under threat and pressure from the sect chief.
The sect chief is an accused in both murder cases, along with other accused, as these were carried out allegedly at his behest.
However, this time, no Dera followers assembled in Panchkula ahead of Saturday’s hearing, unlike the rape case hearing where over one lakh followers had converged in the town and had indulged in large-scale violence after his conviction.
Violence had also broken out in Sirsa with both the incidents, leaving 38 people dead and 264 injured. Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from Delhi and several other places in Punjab.
Source Economic Times
