Jailed 'godman' Gurmeet Ram Rahim convicted In journalist murder case

Agencies
January 11, 2019

Panchkula, Jan 11: A CBI court Friday convicted self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati 16 years ago.

The quantum of sentence for the Dera Sacha Sauda chief and the others will be pronounced by the special CBI court Judge Jagdeep Singh on January 17.

The 51-year-old sect head appeared before the court through video conference from Sunaria jail in Rohtak, where he is already serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his followers.

The journalist was killed in Haryana's Sirsa in 2002 after his newspaper published a letter alleging sexual exploitation of women by the godman.

After the conviction in the murder case, he now faces a minimum sentence of life, lawyers said.

The other three accused - Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal appeared in person at the Panchkula court. After the verdict, they were taken to Ambala jail following a medical examination.

All the four accused have been convicted under section 302 (murder) and 120 B (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, CBI counsel H P S Verma said.

Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal have also been convicted under the Arms Act, he said.

Security was tight outside the Panchkula court complex with the Haryana police putting up barricades on roads leading to it. It was also stepped up in the rest of the state and parts of Punjab.

The situation remained peaceful.

Chhatrapati was shot outside his house in October 2002 after his newspaper 'Poora Sach' published an anonymous letter narrating the alleged the sexual exploitation of women followers by Ram Rahim at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

Ram Rahim was named as the main conspirator in the case.

Chhatrapati's family approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2003, seeking the transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The investigation was later handed over to the CBI which filed the chargesheet in July 2007.

Verma said the CBI examined 46 witnesses and the defence 21.

There was violence in Panchkula and some other parts of Haryana and Punjab in August 2017 after Ram Rahim's conviction in the rape case. The police opened fire and about 30 people, mostly Dera followers, were killed in Panchkula.

In 2017, the sect leader was brought to the Panchkula court where the CBI court judge pronounced the verdict.

The judge had later travelled to Sunaria jail, where Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was lodged, to pronounce the sentence.

The CBI counsel said Friday a convict has to appear in person before the judge when the quantum of sentence is pronounced.

But it is not immediately known whether Ram Rahim will be brought to the court in Panchkula or the judge will pronounce the sentence in jail this time.

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Agencies
July 14,2020

Jaipur, Jul 14: Sachin Pilot has been removed as Deputy Chief Minister and Rajasthan PCC Chief, announced Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday.

"Sachin Pilot, Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena have been removed from the posts of Deputy Chief Minister and Ministerial posts respectively. Sachin Pilot has also been removed as the Rajasthan PCC Chief," said Surjewala.

Govind Singh Dotasra has been appointed as the new PCC chief, he added.

"Sachin Pilot, few Congress Ministers and MLAs got involved in the conspiracy to topple the Congress government by getting entangled within the trap of BJP," he added.

The decision was taken after a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting at the Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur, Rajasthan earlier today.

The Rajasthan Congress is in turmoil over the past few days. While Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has blamed the BJP for attempting to destabilise the State government by poaching MLAs, Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has been camping in Delhi.

A controversy broke out in Rajasthan after Special Operation Group (SOG) sent a notice to Pilot to record his statement in the case registered by SOG in the alleged poaching of Congress MLAs in the State.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Six months since the new coronavirus outbreak, the pandemic is still far from over, the World Health Organization said Monday, warning that "the worst is yet to come".

Reaching the half-year milestone just as the death toll surpassed 500,000 and the number of confirmed infections topped 10 million, the WHO said it was a moment to recommit to the fight to save lives.

"Six months ago, none of us could have imagined how our world -- and our lives -- would be thrown into turmoil by this new virus," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing.

"We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is this is not even close to being over.

"Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.

"We're all in this together, and we're all in this for the long haul.

"We will need even greater stores of resilience, patience, humility and generosity in the months ahead.

"We have already lost so much -- but we cannot lose hope."

Tedros also said that the pandemic had brought out the best and worst humanity, citing acts of kindness and solidarity, but also misinformation and the politicisation of the virus.

In an atmosphere of global political division and fractures on a national level, "the worst is yet to come. I'm sorry to say that," he said.

"With this kind of environment and condition, we fear the worst."

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: In the third such incident inside of a week, two unidentified persons opened fire outside Gate No. 5 of Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday night, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) said.

A statement issued by the committee, a group comprising students and alumni of the university formed to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, said the attackers were on a red Rcooty.

No one was injured in the attack. One of the miscreants was wearing a red jacket, the statement said.

"Firing has taken place at Gate No.5 of Jamia Millia Islamia right now by two unidentified persons. As per report, one of them was wearing a red jacket and driving a red Scooty having vehicle no. 1532 or 1534," the statement said.

Police said they were verifying the JCC's claims.

Asim Mohammed Khan, former Congress MLA from Okhla, said the incident occurred around 11.30 pm. "We heard the gunshot. That is when we stepped out to see and the two men left on a Scooty," a student said.

"We have taken down the vehicle number and called police," he added.

This is the third firing incident in the Jamia Nagar area in a week.

On Thursday, a minor fired at anti-CAA protesters marching towards Rajghat, injuring a student.

Two days later, a 25-year-old fired two rounds in air in Shaheen Bagh in Jamia Nagar. No one was hurt in the incident.

The incident on Sunday night triggered panic in the area. A police vehicle had reached the spot after the incident but was chased away by angry students.

Hundreds of students and locals gathered outside the university.

Many raised slogans against the Delhi Police. They also staged a dharna outside the Jamia Nagar police station.

Shezad Ahmed, a JMI student and resident of Zakir Nagar, said they were not even allowed to protest peacefully.

"We are not going to be deterred by such incidents. We will continue with our protest," he added.

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