Sketchy, Tainted": Court Condemns Probe In Murder Case Against Ram Rahim .

 Gurmeet Ram Rahim, chief of Dera Sacha Sauda, was acquitted today in a 22-year-old murder case, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court citing lapses in investigation and lack of solid evidence against the accused.

The court detailed the investigation's deficiencies, including issues with the murder weapon, ballistic reports, postmortem report, and polygraph test, none of which supported the prosecution's claims regarding the murder of former sect manager Ranjit Singh.

Influenced by media scrutiny, the investigating officers "carried out a tainted and sketchy investigation into the crime," stated the bench of Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Lalit Batra.

"This case starkly illustrates the necessity for courts to conduct an incisive and objective analysis of the evidence on record," the judges added.

Ram Rahim is currently serving a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples and is also facing a 16-year-old murder case.

Ranjit Singh was allegedly killed for his suspected role in circulating an anonymous letter exposing the sexual exploitation of women by Ram Rahim at the Dera headquarters.

Ram Rahim, accused of conspiracy, along with four others, was convicted by a CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana, in October 2021 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He remains in jail in Haryana's Rohtak.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim's 2017 conviction in the rape cases led to widespread violence and arson in parts of Punjab and Haryana, resulting in thirty deaths, over 250 injuries, and the deployment of the Army to restore order.