(Left) Ram Chander Chhatarpati who was allegedly killed by suspected dera followers in 2002; (right) his son Anshul who is currently fighting the legal battle. After his death, Anshul took over the evening daily and ran it till 2014, when he had to shut it due to financial constraints. (Left) Ram Chander Chhatarpati who was allegedly killed by suspected dera followers in 2002; (right) his son Anshul who is currently fighting the legal battle. After his death, Anshul took over the evening daily and ran it till 2014, when he had to shut it due to financial constraints.

Conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on charges of raping two women followers has rekindled hopes in the family of journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati who was allegedly killed by suspected dera followers in 2002 for his reports relating to the allegations that the dera head was sexually exploiting women in his ashram. Ram Chander Chattarparti’s case is being heard by the same CBI court in Panchkula which on Friday convicted the dera chief in the rape case.

“We welcome the verdict. Not only to us, it has given hopes to the people of entire country that justice is possible even if the fight is against a powerful person like the dera chief. It has also given a strong message that the judiciary can’t be taken for granted,” said Chhatrapati’s son Anshul, 35, who is living under police protection.

“The verdict in the rape case will strengthen our case also,” he said. The dera chief is facing two murder cases. The second relates to murder of dera follower Ranjeet Singh. The dera chief was booked on charges of conspiracy in both murder cases. “Now, we hope to get justice because all these cases were co-related,” says Anshul, the eldest of three siblings who has been spearheading the legal battle. Ranjeet Singh was allegedly killed for his suspected role in the circulation of the anonymous letter that made the sexual exploitation allegations, on the basis of which the Punjab & Haryana High Court ordered the CBI investigation.

This case is also under trial in the CBI court. According to Anshul, evidences have been completed into the murder case of his father and it is in the stage of final arguments. Next hearing has been fixed for September 16. Anshul’s father was a Sirsa-based journalist, who had launched his own evening newspaper Pura Sachh in 2000. When the issue of sexual exploitation and other suspicious activities in the dera came into picture, Chhatarparti started reporting the matter prominently in his newspaper.

“The dera men started threatening my father. On October 24, 2002, my father was at home. The goons of the dera called him outside, and fired five bullets at him. He was admitted to the PGIMS in Rohtak, but the police did not try to record his statement before a magistrate despite the fact that he remained under treatment for 28 days before he finally died in Apollo Hospital of Delhi. Even my grandfather had made a written request to the then Deputy Commissioner of Sirsa in November 2002, urging that my father’s statement be recorded before a magistrate. He was fully conscious for about 15 days even after bullet injuries,” Anshul recalls.

The INLD, which had facilitated the setting up of the dera in Sirsa, was in power at the time. “In his police statement, my father had clearly stated he was attacked on the directions of the dera chief. But the police did not include this para in his statement which was recorded in my presence,” said Chhatarpati. “The dera had full political patronage from the INLD government, like it enjoys during the current BJP government. It was the political pressure which did not let the Haryana police to conduct a fair probe. In December 2002, my family members met the then CM Om Prakash Chautala to seek a CBI probe into the matter because the police was shielding him. When nothing happened, we approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court which ultimately handed over the probe to CBI in the 2003,” says Anshul.

According to Anshul, they were offered Rs 5 crore to withdraw the case through a former village sarpanch Thakur Shiv Ram Singh, a resident of village Bajekan (Sirsa). When contacted by the Indian Express, the former village sarpanch confirmed such attempts were made by the dera men through him to influence Chhatarpati family. “Not only this, efforts were also made through a Congress MLA from Punjab to indirectly pressure us. But they did not pursue much because the murder case had already became a major issue in the state because of widespread public outrage and protests by the journalists,” he said.

Anshul has lot of grievances over the initial investigations carried out by the state police, but has all the praise for the CBI Investigators. “I salute investigating officer of the CBI, Satish Dagar, who made great efforts to probe the case courageously and scientifically. Not only this, senior lawyers Ashwani Bakshi, Rajiv Godara, RS Cheema and Rajender Sacchar fought our legal battle without charging any fee,” said Anshul. After his father’s murder, Anshul ran the newspaper but had to shut it down in 2014 because of financial constraints. Chattarpati family’s security has been enhanced after the violence following verdict against the dera chief in rape case.

“We have apprehensions because the dera has been using mobs to indulge in violence since long. It always tries to save itself by making an alliance with politicians. In turn, the politicians try to blackmail the dera in the name of criminal cases pending against its chief,” says Anshul. A local lawyer, Lekhraj Dhot, who has been standing by the Chattarpati family since the beginning, said: “It’s not first time when the dera chief has shown his mob mentality. When he had gone to appear before the CBI court in Ambala the first time in 2007, a long cavalcade accompanied him, like what happened on Friday when he appeared before a Panchkula court. But despite all pressures, we are fighting to ensure justice to a brave journalist.”

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