Jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief and actor-producer-director Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was granted a month-long parole and walked out of Sunaria jail in Rohtak (Haryana) on June 17. The 30-day parole was granted by the Rohtak divisional commissioner on the recommendations of officials concerned.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh said in his plea that he wanted to visit the Dera Sacha Sauda ashram at Barnawa in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh. The parole was granted after clearance was obtained from the administration at Baghpat.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami strongly objected to the parole and said that it showed the double standards of the government. He explained that on the one hand, the governments were not bringing the Sikh prisoners out of the jails despite they having completed their sentences and in spite of the Centre announcing on the 500th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, its decision to release them and on the other, the Dera chief was being brought out of jail time and again although he was convicted for committing heinous crimes. According to the SGPC head, the BJP government had granted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh a three-week furlough in February during the Punjab elections for political gain and again had given him parole to take advantage in the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-elections.
Gurmeet is serving a 20-year jail term for rape and murder.