Ram Rahim's sentencing in Sunaria jail: 10 facts

Rohtak: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Monday sentenced to 20 years in jail by CBI judge Jagdeep Singh here for two rape cases in 2002, amid tight security in Haryana and neighbouring Punjab.

He has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in each of the two cases and both sentences will run consecutively.

In teary eyes, the Dera chief pleaded for forgiveness with folded hands to the judge, who was flown in by a chopper to Sunaria jail for the sentencing.

Here are the 10 latest developments:

1. The Dera chief was forcefully removed from the makeshift court room by the security personnel when he refused to move out.

2. The 50-year-old godman was ordered to undergo a medical examination after the sentencing before being shifted to his allotted prison cell in Sunaria jail.

3. The judge also fined him with Rs 50,000, 10,000 and 5,000 in different cases.

4. Ram Rahim broke down and asked for forgiveness with folded hands from the CBI judge.

5. Minutes before the verdict, two cars were set on fire by Dera supporters in Haryana's Phoolka area in Sirsa.

6. Extra forces have been deployed outside the prison for security during the hearing. The Army conducted a flag march in Sirsa, Dera HQs, post sentencing.

7. Meanwhile, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar has called for an emergency meeting to review the security situation in the state after the court verdict.

8. Power and broadband services were barred at Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

9. The defence lawyer in his closing arguments claimed that Ram Rahim has been a social worker and urged the judge to take a lenient view in the case.

10. CBI had demanded a maximum sentence of 15 years for Ram Rahim.