Ram Rahim gets 30-day parole ahead of Delhi polls, allowed to visit Sirsa ashram

Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape-murder convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim was released on parole from Rohtak’s Sunaria jail on Tuesday morning.

The Dera head is undergoing 20-year imprisonment in connection with the rape of two of his disciples. He has also been convicted for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati.

As per official sources, he has been released on a 30-day parole, of which he will stay at the Sirsa ashram for the first 10 days and at Barnawa ashram in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district for the remaining 20 days.

This is for the first time since the Dera chief's arrest that he has been allowed to visit his Sirsa ashram during the parole period.

It is for the 11th time that he has been released from the jail on furlough/parole ever since he was awarded the jail term by a special CBI court in August, 2017.

However, the release was kept secretive this time that the local police also got to know about it after the Dera chief left the jail

around 6.45 am on Tuesday.

The grant of parole to the Dera head is also being linked to the Delhi Assembly elections as the Dera has many followers in the national capital. Several leaders of the ruling party have been visiting the Dera ashrams.