Serving a life sentence in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been granted a furlough from February 7th to February 21st. The self-styled godman Ram Rahim was convicted for the murder of his manager and raping of two women on August 25th 2017.
The 21-day long furlough granted by the Haryana government’s jail administration will start from Monday.
This is the first time Dera chief has been allowed for a furlough since his conviction, however, the speculations of this move to influence the votes, in the wake of Punjab polls is also increasing.
Dera chief always had an influential upper hand on Punjab (and some regions of western UP) politics and the from regional parties like Shiromani Akali Dal to national parties like Congress and BJP, all leaders have been spotted with the chief in past.
Meanwhile, clearing the air around this furlough, Haryana’s Power Minister Ranjit Singh said, “It is the legal right of the convict, who becomes eligible to seek parole/furlough after he has completed three years of conviction. Like other inmates, Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s request application was also examined by the requisite committee that deals with such cases and his request was allowed.” He also specifically mentioned that the government had nothing to do with any jail inmates’ parole.
Punjab will vote for the upcoming assembly polls on February 20th and results will be announced on March 10th.
