Dera Chief arrest: Reaffirmed faith in law, says son of slain scribe who broke the story on rapist baba

The son of a slain journalist, who first published an anonymous letter addressed to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that eventually led to the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2002 rape case, said the verdict has reaffirmed his faith in the law.

Anshul Chhatrapati’s father Ram Chander Chhatrapati was killed on October 24, 2002, five months after ‘Pura Sach’, a newspaper run by him, published an anonymous letter accusing the Dera chief of rape.

“My father’s death was a direct result of his publishing the anonymous letter in the edition dated May 30, 2002. The next day onwards, there were threats and he understood that he was likely to be killed. Still, he decided to soldier on,” Anshul said in a press conference.

He claimed that another newspaper in Fatehabad had been attacked for “daring” to publish news that did not show the Dera in a favourable light.

On the case of his father’s killing, which is in the stage of final arguments in the court, Anshul refused to divulge anything that could impact the trial, but said, “It is well known that the Dera tried to ensure that no CBI probe took place into the …read more