Chandigarh: Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year sentence for rape and a lifer for a murder in district Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, once again came out of jail on Wednesday on a 21-day furlough.
For record, the Dera head is serving life imprisonment in a case of journalist’s murder and a 20-year sentence for raping two of his disciples given by a special CBI court in Panchkula in 2017.
In January last only, the 57-year old Dera head had come out on a 30-day parole. This is said to be his 13th temporary release from the jail since 2020.
According to Haryana police, he would stay at his Sirsa Dera and would meet his followers. This time, he has been granted the furlough in the wake of Dera’s foundation day celebrations. It would be the first time he would stay at the Dera in Sirsa for his entire furlough period.
Earlier, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s temporary release from the jail showed a pattern of being around the elections in the region where he has a large number of followers.
Sample this: On January 28, last, he was granted a 30-day parole ahead of Delhi assembly polls; Before that, he was granted a 20-day parole before Haryana assembly elections in 2024; In January 2024, he was given a 50-day temporary release and before that he was granted 29-day parole in November, 2023 before Rajasthan elections and a 30-day parole in July 2023 ahead of Haryana panchayat elections.
The Dera chief was given a 40-day parole in October 2022 ahead of Adampur byelection in Haryana, a 30-day parole in June 2022 ahead of Haryana municipal corporations polls and before that a 21-day furlough in February 2022, ahead of Punjab assembly elections.
Earlier in October, 2022, he was released from sunrise to sunset to meet his ailing mother in Gurugram while it was also ahead of Haryana’s Baroda assembly segment byelection.
