Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gets another 40-day parole, 14th since 2017
CHANDIGARH: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a 57-year-old convict in rape and murder cases, walked out of Sunaria jail on his 14th temporary release since 2017. The self-styled godman was granted a 40-day parole this time.
Sources said Ram Rahim Singh left Sunaria jail early at 6 AM under tight police security and reached the Dera headquarters in Sirsa around 9 AM in a cavalcade of seven SUVs. This will be the first time in eight years that he will celebrate his birthday—on August 15—at the Sirsa dera. In the past, during previous paroles or furloughs around this occasion, he had mostly stayed at his Barnawa Ashram in Uttar Pradesh. He is expected to remain at the Sirsa dera until returning to jail on September 14.
According to sources, this will be his 58th birthday, though the celebrations are likely to be limited. He may address his followers virtually, as the administration has reportedly not granted permission for large gatherings at the dera.
He was earlier granted a 21-day furlough in April this year, during which he stayed at the Sirsa dera, participated in Dera Foundation Day celebrations, and met several followers. Before that, he received a 30-day parole in January, a week before the Delhi assembly elections. On October 1 last year, he was also granted a 20-day parole before the October 5 Haryana assembly elections. In total, he has spent 326 days out of jail so far.
The paroles and furloughs granted to him have often coincided with elections in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, or Rajasthan. Dera Sacha Sauda has a large following across these states, especially in Haryana’s Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, and Hisar districts.
He is currently serving a 20-year sentence for the rape of two female disciples, a conviction handed down by a special CBI court in August 2017. In January 2019, he was also convicted, along with three others, for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and sentenced to life imprisonment. In May last year, he was acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the 2002 murder of the sect's former manager, Ranjit Singh.