Rohtak: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who has been convicted in rape and murder cases, has again been granted parole of 40 days ahead of the Haryana panchayat polls and the Adampur bypoll. It is learnt that the self-styled godman will spend the parole at an ashram in Rajasthan.
The Dera chief's family had recently submitted an application to the jail authorities seeking month-long parole for him and he was granted fresh parole. Earlier, in June, the Dera chief had been granted month-long parole. In February 2022, Ram Rahim took a furlough of 21 days. The Dera chief has come out of jail three times in 2021 and two times in 2022. According to the rules, Ram Rahim can be released from jail for about 90 days in a year.
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This includes 21 days of furlough and 70 days of parole. The Dera chief has been sentenced to 10 years in the sexual abuse case of two Sadhvis and life imprisonment in the murder case of journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati and former manager Ranjit Singh. Ram Rahim was brought to the Sunaria Jail in Rohtak on August 25, 2017.
He has been kept in a separate barrack on the jail premises of Rohtak. Ram Rahim was airlifted to Sunaria Jail after his conviction on August 25, 2017, which led to violence in Panchkula and Sirsa, during a court appearance. On August 28, 2017, in a special CBI court in the jail, CBI judge Jagdeep Singh sentenced Ram Rahim to 20 years in prison for raping two Sadhvis.
Later in January 2019, a special CBI court also convicted Ram Rahim and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati 16 years ago. Ram Rahim was sentenced to life imprisonment in the case. In October 2021, he was also sentenced to life imprisonment in another case for the murder of former Dera administrator Ranjit Singh. Ram Rahim was patronised by political leaders and parties in Punjab and Haryana for nearly two decades due to his ability to influence the votes of his followers.
