Gurmeet Ram Rahim: jailed for 20 yrs but out many times on parole with Z+ security

Chandigarh: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who was convicted of rape and murder and is serving a prison term of 20 years, is out on parole repeatedly from Sunaria jail in Haryana on the alleged behest of the BJP government.

This time Gurmeet Ram Rahim got 40 days' parole, but the BJP government in Haryana denied any role it played in the release of the convict when panchayat polls and the Adampur bypoll are around the corner.

Despite the BJP's brushing off the allegations of its hand behind the Dera chief's parole, reports suggest that its leaders met Gurmeet Ram Rahim for blessings.

It was the timing of his parole that raise the eyebrows of opposition parties. He was reported to have been granted parole thrice in 2021 and twice in 2022, on February 7, he was out when there were Punjab Assembly elections with a Z-plus security cover over a threat to his life from pro-Khalistan elements.

The jail authorities said that prisoners are entitled to get parole of 90 days every year, on the basis of their conduct and clearances from the district administration where he or she would be staying during the parole period.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, denied the reports of having any link with his parole to the elections and said that the convict is availing of the parole as per the law.

The Dera chief, first convicted in August 2017 by a special CBI court in Panchkula, is currently serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his women disciples at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.

In 2019, Ram Rahim and three others were convicted for the 2002 murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

Last year, he, along with four others, was convicted for hatching a conspiracy to kill the Dera's former manager Ranjit Singh, who was shot dead, also in 2002.