Dera Sacha Sauda chief, serving 20-yr term, granted three-week furlough

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, was granted a three-week furlough on Monday, official sources said.

The 56-year-old Dera chief is lodged in Sunaria jail in Haryana's Rohtak district.

During his temporary release period of 21 days, Singh will go to the Dera Sacha Sauda Ashram in Barnawa in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat, they said.

The Sirsa-headquartered sect's chief had applied for temporary release.

Previously, Singh had walked out of the Sunaria jail on a 30-day parole on July 30.

Prior to that, the Dera chief had been granted a 40-day parole in January. In October last year too, he was granted a 40-day parole.

Prior to his October parole, he had come out of the prison on a month-long parole in June last year. Besides, he was granted a three weeks' furlough from February 7, 2022.

In 2021, the Dera chief, along with four others, was also convicted for hatching a conspiracy to kill Ranjit Singh, a Dera manager.

The Dera chief and three others were also convicted in 2019 for the murder of a journalist more than 16 years ago.