Dera chief in aerial-attack insulated cell in Jail

Incarcerated Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is lodged in a bullet-proof prison cell inside the high-security Sunaria jail in Haryana’s Rohtak. The well-secured prison cell in the jail, where the sect chief has now spent nearly 27-months since August 2017, is also fortified against aerial attack.

Multiple layers of sandbags cover the concrete roof of the prison ward. Besides, sandbags have also been placed in front of the cell grills.

These details come to fore amid apprehensions of threat to the life of the jailed sect chief. Gurmeet Ram Rahim is serving a 20-year jail term after being convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula near here for raping two of his disciples.

Interestingly, the place where Gurmeet Ram Rahim stayed in his mansion in Sirsa before his conviction was also bullet-proof. The security ward of the sect chief in Sunaria jail has five other jail inmates inside. The entire area is monitored by CCTV cameras under the supervision of senior officials of the jail.

Dera follower, Dr Mohit Gupta, who is a doctor in a hospital run by the sect in Sirsa, had petitioned before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh seeking enhanced security for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The petitioner had apprehended threat to the life of the sect chief inside the jail.

Inside the jail, Gurmeet Ram Rahim is prisoner number 8647 and works as a gardener earning Rs 40 per day as daily wage. The sect chief has also been convicted for life imprisonment by the court on charge of murder of a Sirsa based journalist. His life term for murder will begin after the end of his 20-year jail term.

Meanwhile, sect chief’s ‘foster’ daughter Honeypreet, who is currently out on bail and has sought permission to meet Gurmeet Ram Rahim in jail, is yet to meet him. The local police have expressed certain apprehensions that is coming in way to allow Honeypreet to meet the sect chief.

On Wednesday, the court framed other charges under relevant sections of the IPC against Honeypreet and others in a case of violence in Panchkula that ensued after the sect chief's conviction on August 25, 2017.