Ram Chander Chhatrapati

Ram Chander Chhatrapati was a journalist in Sirsa, Haryana, who ran the Hindi evening daily Poora Sach ("The Whole Truth"). In 2002 the paper printed an anonymous letter alleging the sexual exploitation of women followers at the headquarters of the Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa, the dera of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. ThePrint says the letters were first meant for the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and for the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

On the night of 24 October 2002 two men on a motorcycle shot him at point-blank range outside his home. He died in a Delhi hospital on 21 November 2002. The case began with the Sirsa police. His son Anshul petitioned the High Court in January 2003 for a CBI inquiry, the court accepted this that November, and the CBI took over (Wikipedia). The CBI charged Ram Rahim, the Dera's Krishan Lal and two men named as the gunmen, Kuldeep Singh and Nirmal Singh (ThePrint, Wikipedia). Its charge sheet against Ram Rahim came in July 2007.

A special CBI court in Panchkula convicted all four on 11 January 2019 and sentenced them to life imprisonment on 17 January 2019 (The Quint, Wikipedia).

Where the case stands now. On 7 March 2026 a Punjab and Haryana High Court bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal acquitted Ram Rahim of the murder and upheld the convictions of Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal. ThePrint reports that the ruling turned on the driver Khatta Singh, the only witness to the conspiracy charge, who turned hostile and said the CBI had coerced him; the court found that coercion appeared to have occurred. Ram Rahim remains in prison on a separate 20-year sentence for rape (IANS).

On 10 August 2026 the Supreme Court issued notice on a petition by the family against the acquittal and posted it for final hearing in the week of 16 November 2026. LawBeat quotes Justice Joymalya Bagchi saying it is a reversal of a conviction, not an acquittal affirmed by the High Court. Reports differ on which son filed: ETV Bharat names Anshul, while LawBeat and ThePrint name his brother Aridaman. They also differ on whether the CBI has appealed; ThePrint says it has begun the process.

Key moments

• 2002: Poora Sach prints the anonymous letter about the Dera.
• 24 October 2002: shot outside his home in Sirsa.
• 21 November 2002: dies in Delhi.
• January 2019: Ram Rahim and three others convicted, then sentenced to life.
• 7 March 2026: High Court acquits Ram Rahim and upholds the other three convictions.
• August 2026: Supreme Court takes up the family's appeal.

What he is remembered for. He is remembered as a small-town editor who printed a letter no one else would, and who was killed after it. His son Anshul ran Poora Sach until 2015, when he ran out of energy and money (ThePrint). The case is still open.