Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim granted 40-day parole
Singh, who will turn 58 on 15 August, was convicted in 2017 for raping two of his disciples.
PTI
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Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh,
Chandigarh, 5 August
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, serving a 20-year jail
term for raping two of his disciples, walked out of Sunaria prison in Haryana's
Rohtak on Tuesday after being granted a 40-day parole.
Prior to this, Singh has come out of prison 13 times since he was convicted in 2017. This year itself, Singh was granted a 21-day furlough in
April and a 30-day parole in January.
He will stay at his Sirsa-headquartered Dera during his parole, said
Dera spokesperson and advocate Jitender Khurana.
After reaching Sirsa under tight security, Singh appealed to his
followers in a video message to not turn up at the Dera and adhere to the
instructions of the sect elders.
Reacting to development, Haryana Minister Anil Vij told reporters here
that the parole has been granted strictly in line with the laid-down rules.
Vij said all actions are carried out within the legal framework.
Singh, who will turn 58 on 15 August, was convicted in 2017 for raping
two of his disciples. The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in
2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.
By the time Singh returns to jail at the end of his parole, he would
have spent three months out of prison this year.
He was granted a 21-day furlough in April and a 30-day parole in January
this year ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls. He was granted a 20-day parole on
October 1 last year, days before the October 5 Haryana assembly polls.
In August last year, Singh was granted a 21-day furlough. He was granted
a three-week furlough from 7 February, 2022, barely two weeks before the Punjab
assembly polls.
Sikh organisations, like the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
(SGPC), have in the past criticised the grant of relief to Singh.
On Tuesday, too, SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami said the
government was releasing the Dera chief on parole and furlough, whereas 'Bandi
Singhs' (Sikh prisoners) continue to be lodged in jails.
According to Sikh bodies, 'Bandi Singhs' are those Sikh prisoners who
remain in jail even after the completion of their sentences.
Dera spokesperson Khurana said parole or furlough has been granted to
Singh within the ambit of law by the authorities concerned.
"Even the fresh parole has been granted within that ambit. In the
past too, these have been granted within those parameters and no special parole
has been given," Khurana said.
Prior to Tuesday's parole, Singh has come out of prison 13 times since
2017. On most of these occasions, he has stayed at the Dera's ashram in Barnawa
in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat.
In May last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted Singh and
four others in the 2002 murder of the sect's former manager Ranjit Singh,
citing "tainted and sketchy" investigations into the matter.
Earlier, a special CBI court sentenced them to life imprisonment in the
nearly 20-year-old murder case. It held Singh guilty of hatching a criminal
conspiracy with his co-accused.
The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda has a number of followers in
Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states. In Haryana, the Dera has a sizable
number of followers in many districts, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra,
Kaithal and Hisar.
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