Dera Sacha Sauda chief granted 3-week temporary release — 3rd this year, 8th in 3 years
He was last out on parole for a month on July 20 when he visited his Dera’s ashram in Barwana, Baghpat.
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The chief of the Dera, with its headquarters at Sirsa in Haryana, is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples and a life term for murdering a journalist. (File photo) Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a double rape and murder convict, was Monday granted a 21-day furlough — his third temporary release from jail this year, sixth in 21 months and eighth in last three years.
The 56-year-old is likely to come out of Rohtak’s Sunaria prison Tuesday and go to dera’s ashram at Barwana in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district. The Dera Sacha Sauda, with its headquarters in Sirsa, has substantial following in Haryana’s border areas in Rajasthan that goes to Assembly polls on November 25.
Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples and a life term for murdering a journalist. He had last come out on parole of 30 days on July 20 and stayed at Barwana where he also celebrated his birthday on August 15.
He had earlier got temporary release orders, including both parole and furlough, once in 2020 (October), once in 2021 (May), thrice in 2022 (February, June, October), and twice in 2023 (January and July). Besides these, on one occasion, he was temporary released on medical grounds too.
A Dera Sacha Sauda said spokesperson said, “Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh applied for temporary release from within the jail. If he gets it, he will walk out of the prison on Tuesday”.
A senior Haryana government officer confirmed that “Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been granted a 21-day furlough and he will be staying at his ashram in Uttar Pradesh”.
Reacting sharply to the development, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami said Ram Rahim is serving a sentence for heinous crimes like murder and rape. “The government’s repeated leniency, despite the serious nature of his crimes, is creating an atmosphere of disbelief among the Sikh community. The political interests of the government are causing Ram Rahim’s gruesome offenses to be overlooked, which is not in the best interest of the country,” Dhami said.
On several occasions in the past, Ram Rahim’s temporary release had coincided with the elections in the northern region. In October 2022, he was granted 40-day parole ahead of Haryana’s panchayat election and the Adampur assembly bypoll. He was also granted 21-day furlough in February 2022, ahead of the Assembly elections in neighbouring Punjab.
Starting from his first temporary release of a day in October 2020, Ram Rahim has already spent 163 days out of the prison in the last three years. With the fresh 21-day furlough granted to him, the number of days that he would be out of prison will reach 184.
The BJP leadership of Haryana had been defending the temporary releases granted to Ram Rahim.
In January, after Dera chief was granted 40-day parole, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said that he was “not aware that Ram Rahim has got parole; but if he has, then it must be after following all the procedures and that is his right; I will not interfere in that”.
During that parole period, Ram Rahim was seen in a viral video celebrating his birthday by cutting a cake with a sword. “Got a chance after five years to celebrate it like this, so I should cut at least five cakes, this is the first cake,” he was heard saying in the video.
Currently, Ram Rahim is facing several other criminal cases including alleged castration of his disciples and cases of sacrilege registered in Punjab.
In March, while responding to a petition filed by the SGPC challenging parole to Ram Rahim, Sunaria’s jail superintendent Suneel Sangwan had said in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that “1000 more convicts have been granted parole/ furlough under the similar provision but the petitioner [SGPC] has only challenged the parole to the dera chief to gain publicity”.
In jail for life, Dera chief out for 184 days
October 2020: One day parole to meet his ailing mother
May 2021: One day parole to meet his ailing mother
February 7, 2022: 21 day furlough
June 17, 2022 30 day parole
October 14, 2022 40 day parole
January 22, 2023 40 day parole
July 19, 2023 30 day parole
November 20, 2023 21 day furlough
August 2017: Awarded 20 years in jail for raping two disciples
2019: Dera chief, three others convicted of murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago
October 2021: Awarded life term for 2002 murder of Dera employee Ranjit Singh
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