Week before Delhi elections, Sirsa dera chief out on 30-day parole
Will spend 10 days at Dera Sacha Sauda HQ in Sirsa followed by the remaining period at Baghpat branch of sect. This is his 12th temporary release from jail since 2020. He has already been out of jail for 275 days in the past five years.
Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Tuesday walked out of the Sunaria jail in Rohtak after he was granted a 30-day parole. This is his 12th temporary release from jail since 2020. He has been out of jail for 275 days in the past five years.
The dera chief has been released eight days ahead of the Delhi assembly elections on February 5. Last time, he was given a 20-day parole three days before Haryana went to the polls in October last year.
According to jail officials, Gurmeet Ram Rahim was released at 5.30am on Tuesday and headed for the Sirsa-based headquarters of the sect, which he is visiting for the first time since his conviction in 2017.
On reaching Sirsa at 7.30am, Gurmeet Ram Rahim appealed to followers not to visit the sect and assured them that information about upcoming events would be shared soon.
He was accompanied by his aide and follower Honeypreet.
During his previous paroles and furloughs, he was only allowed to visit his sect at Baghpat in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
“During the first 10 days of the month-long parole, Gurmeet Ram Rahim will stay at his Sirsa ashram and will spend the remaining 20 days in Baghpat,” a senior jail official said.
Release coincides with elections
On most occasions, Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s paroles and furloughs have coincided with elections. Three days before the Haryana assembly polls in October last year, he was given a 20-day parole. He was released for 50 days in January last year and again for 21 days on August 13, 2024.
He got a 29-day parole in November 2023 before the Rajasthan assembly elections and was out on 30-day parole in July 2023 before the panchayat elections in Haryana.
In October 2022, he got a 40-day parole before the Adampur assembly byelections in Haryana. Besides, he got a 30-day parole in June 2022 before the Haryana municipal corporation elections and 21-day furlough in February 2022 before the Punjab assembly elections.
On October 24, 2020, Gurmeet Ram Rahim was released from jail from sunrise to sunset to meet his ailing mother at a Gurugram hospital. The release coincided with the Baroda byelections in Sonepat.
Parole over the years
February 7-28, 2022: Furlough for 21 days ( Punjab assembly polls)
June 17-July 18, 2022: Parole for 30 days ( Haryana municipal polls)
October 15, 2022- November 25, 2022: Parole for 40 days (Adampur assembly by poll)
January 21, 2023, March 3, 2023: Parole for 40 days
July 20, 2023- August 20, 2023: Parole for 30 days (Haryana panchayat polls)
November 21, 2023- December 13, 2023: Furlough for 21 days (Rajasthan assembly polls)
August 13,2024- September 2, 2024: Furlough for 21 days (Haryana assembly polls)
October 1, 2024: Parole for 21 days ( Haryana assembly polls)
