Rohtak, Aug. 28: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was on Monday sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two women followers in a case dating back to 2002.

Special court judge Jagdeep Singh, who had found Gurmeet Ram Rahim guilty last Friday, passed the sentence in a makeshift court within Sunaria jail, where the convict had been lodged since Friday. Gurmeet Ram Rahim will serve 10 years for each of the two women he raped over a period.

Initially, media had reported that the Dera leader had been sentenced to ten years in jail. It was later clarified that he is to serve a total of 20 years, with ten years for each of the two women he raped.

Media reports said Ram Rahim broke down and asked for forgiveness with folded hands when the sentence was read out. He then refused to leave the jail library, which had been notified as a court.

The Dera Sacha Sauda said it would appeal to the high court.

Security forces were already on high alert fearing a repeat of the violence and arson launched by Ram Rahim’s followers last Friday in Panchula, where the special court is located, the adjoining city of Chandigarh and many other locations in Punjab and Haryana.

At least 38 people, most of them Ram Rahim’s followers, were killed in the violence.

Though there were no reports of violence on Monday immediately after the sentencing, two cars were said to have been set on fire at Sirsa, where the Dera is headquartered, before the sentencing.

After the sentencing, Ram Rahim was taken for a medical examination and given jail uniform.

The high court had ordered that the sentencing would take place in a makeshift court in Sunaria jail, where Ram Rahim was lodged, and that the judge would be flown there in helicopter, given the volatile situation.

On Monday, the judge landed at a helipad near the jail and then proceeded to the makeshift court, where he heard both sides before handing down the jail term.

The government had put rings of security manned by state police and central armed police forces around the jail, keeping the army on standby.

Haryana and Punjab remained on high alert with officials warning that violent miscreants will be shot at sight.

Ram Rahim was found guilty of rape in a case that stemmed from an anonymous written complaint in April 2002 that he had sexually exploited two female followers.

The High Court ordered the CBI into the case. The CBI filed the chargesheet against the Dera head in Ambala court in July 2007. The chargesheet mentions sexual exploitation of two women followers between 1999 and 2001.

The special court handling cases of the CBI then framed charges against Ram Rahim under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code in September 2008.

The special CBI court shifted from Ambala to Panchkula and the case against Dera chief was also transferred to Panchkula CBI Court.

In July this year, the court had ordered daily hearings, and arguments of prosecution and defence ended on August 17, 2017.

(This report was updated at 7pm.)