Security has been tightened in Panchkula town, ahead of the hearing of two separate murder cases against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the court of Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh here today.
Dera followers and functionaries had allegedly murdered Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh in 2002 on chief Ram Rahim's orders.
On August 25, a special CBI court had convicted the Dera chief of raping two women followers and was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. He is serving his sentence in Sunaria Jail near Rohtak. Since he can't be physically produced before the court, the hearing will take place via a video-call.
Although, there have been no reports of Dera followers assembling in Panchkula ahead of the hearing, it has been informed that the authorities are not compromising on any security measures.
Violence had broken out in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana and Punjab as well as in Delhi after the verdict against Ram Rahim was announced. Around 38 people were killed while 264 were injured during the violence then.
