New Delhi: The Haryana government granted self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh a day’s parole on October 24, according to a report in the Times of India.The Dera Sacha Sauda chief, who is imprisoned in Rohtak since his conviction, was granted parole by the BJP-JJP coalition government led by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, to meet his ailing mother who is hospitalised in Gurgaon.Rahim was taken under heavy security from Sunaria jail to the Gurgaon hospital on October 24 and stayed with his mother till the evening.As per the national daily, the dera chief was transported from jail and back in a police vehicle. Vehicles were also parked in the basement of the hospital and the entire floor where Rahim’s mother was under treatment was vacated.“We had received a request from the jail superintendent seeking security for Ram Rahim’s visit to Gurgaon. We had provided the security during his transportation from sunrise to sunset on October 24. Everything remained peaceful,” Rohtak SP Rahul Sharma told TOI.Only the state’s chief minister a few senior officials of the Haryana government were in the know about the exercise, which was reportedly carried out on the instructions of BJP’s top brass. Even the jawans were not aware of the identity of the person they were escorting.Also Read: Why Do People Go To The Dera?As per the TOI report, by granting parole in such a manner, the Haryana government has created permanent grounds for Rahim to seek release on parole in the future.Haryana’s minister for power and prisons Ranjit Singh confirmed the report about Rahim Singh’s parole. “Yes, on October 24 he (Ram Rahim) was allowed to visit his mother who was admitted in a Gurugram hospital,” Singh told media persons.“There is a provision under the law that in case of an emergency in the family of a convict the prisoner is allowed to visit his family under police protection. He was taken under full police protection after the government had taken into consideration all aspects,” he said.Singh also said that had Ram Rahim had sought parole for a larger period, the government would have taken several factors into consideration. However this was for just one day for which the jail superintendent had the powers to allow parole, he said.Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was sentenced to 20 years in prison by special CBI court in August 2017 for raping two female followers. In January 2019, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and three others were convicted for murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who had exposed the rape allegations against Singh, in 2002.
