Sacha Sauda chief fails to appear in court

Ambala, Oct 4 (UNI) Sacha Sauda Dera Chief Gurmit Ram Rahim, facing charges of rape of dera sadvis and murder of a dera manager and a journalist, failed to appear in the court of special CBI Judge A K Verma here today.

The Dera chief sought exemption from personal appearance through an application stating that he was not well and that it would be risky to undertake the journey in the wake of serial blasts in different parts of the country.

The Judge, granting him exemption, fixed November 8 as the next date of hearing in the case.

However, the arguments in the rape case of a sadhvi were completed with the deposition of a witness Ravesh Kumar, an official from the Punjab and Haryana High court who had received the complaint of the rape victim being a record keeper.

The arguments in the murder case of Ranjit Singh, a former manager of the dera, were also made. Ranjit, once a trusted man of the dera chief, was allgedly done to death by Dera followers after he came to know of the rape incident of his sister.

UNI XC MA MMS1937