Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and three others have been sentenced to life in prison, along with a fine of Rs. 50,000 each, for the 2002 murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati by a special CBI court on Thursday.

The self-styled godman and three others - Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh, and Krishan Lal were convicted under the appropriate sections of the IPC on January 11 after the court had found them guilty of murder and conspiracy. The case dates back to 2002 when the journalist was murdered in Sirsa city in Haryana after he had published a story about the alleged sexual exploitation of women by the Dera chief in his newspaper, ‘Poora Sach.’ Ram Rahim is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Rohtak's Sunaria Jail for raping two of his followers.

Ramchandra Chhatrapati was shot on October 24, 2002 after Dera manager Krishan Lal handed over his licensed revolver and two walkie-talkies to Kuldeep Singh and Nirmal Singh in the presence of Ram Rahim. He was being treated at the Apollo Hospital in New Delhi until he succumbed to his injuries on November 21, 2002. A case was thereby registered against the main conspirator Ram Rahim in 2003, which was subsequently handed over to the CBI three years later.