New Delhi: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was again granted parole for 40 days on Friday. The Dera chief is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two female disciples. He was given similar parole for three months. Rohtak’s Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma told PTI over phone, “The parole has been granted for 40 days. It is given as per rules.
Already got parole
The Dera chief’s last 40-day parole ended on November 25 last year. He went to his Barnawa ashram in Uttar Pradesh after being released on October 14. Earlier, Haryana Jail Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala, commenting on the Dera chief’s fresh parole plea, had said that the Dera chief had filed an application for parole for 40 days, which was forwarded to the Rohtak Divisional Commissioner.
Likely to attend Satnam Singh Jayanti program
According to the information, during his parole period, the Dera chief is also likely to attend the birth anniversary program of former Dera chief Shah Satnam Singh on January 25. During his last parole period in October-November, the 55-year-old Sirsa Dera chief conducted several online satsangs at the Barnawa ashram in UP. The Dera chief came out of jail on a one-month parole in June, ahead of his October parole.
objection to parole
The three-week parole was granted from February 7, 2022, barely two weeks before the Punjab assembly elections. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of the Sikhs, had earlier objected to the 40-day parole granted to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh last year. SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami had alleged that while Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was being given special favors, Sikh prisoners languishing in jails for nearly three decades were not being released even after completing their sentences. In 2021 the Dera chief, along with four others, was also convicted for conspiring to murder Dera manager Ranjit Singh. The Dera chief and three others were convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist 16 years ago.
