Jail superintendent rejects plea seeking 3-week parole to Dera Sacha Sauda chief

Authorities have rejected a plea seeking grant of three-week parole to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, jailed in Sunaria prison in Rohtak district for raping his two disciples, officials said on Friday.

The 52-year-old dera chief's ailing mother Naseeb Kaur had filed the plea for parole on grounds of her illness, they said.

The parole application had been moved before the Sunaria jail superintendent recently.

It was rejected on the basis of inputs from the Superintendent of Police, Sirsa.

Official sources said that apprehension of breach of peace was the main ground for turning down the parole plea.

In June last year, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief had applied for a 42-day parole for farming in his fields in Sirsa. Later, he withdrew the application.

In August last year too, parole plea of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief had been rejected. At that time too, the dera chief had sought parole to attend to his ailing mother.

The plea was then found invalid by the Sunaria jail superintendent on the basis of a report of the Sirsa deputy commissioner, who took into account the security considerations, and the opinion of a board of doctors who examined the dera chief's mother.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted in two rape cases by a Panchkula court in August 2017.