A special CBI court on Monday sentenced Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 10 years in prison for each case making it to 20 years in total. Earlier on Friday, he was convicted in the 2002 rape case that triggered violence leaving 38 dead and scores injured in Haryana.

The special courtroom was set up in Sunaria jail premises itself. The CBI judge Jagdeep Singh was flown into Panchkula in the afternoon and the court proceedings begun as scheduled. The two sides were given 10-10 minutes each to put forward their point on the quantum of the sentence, and only 8 people were present in the courtroom.

As soon as the sentence was pronounced Baba started weeping and crying in the courtroom. After the sentence was read out, Baba was taken for a medical examination. Although the defense tried to lessen the magnitude of the sentence, the judge was in no mood to go easy on self-proclaimed godman.

A multilayer security cordon along with 23 companies of paramilitary forces was deployed around Rohtak and around the jail. The Army has been kept on standby and all the routes to the jail were sealed.

Haryana and Punjab remained on high alert, officials warned the miscreants of stern actions if they tried to cause any kind of disturbance or violence.

A brief timeline of today’s proceedings

3:45 pm: CM of Punjab appealed people to maintain peace and order.
3:36 pm: Baba took for medical, after which he will be allotted a cell in the prison.
3:30 pm: Special CBI court sentence Baba to 10 years in prison.
3:07 pm: The judge read the decision.
3:05 pm: The hearing in the court ends.
2:33 pm: CBI appeals for maximum punishment.
2:31 pm: Judge allocates 10-10 minutes to both parties.
2:30 pm: Court proceedings begin.