Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim withdraws his parole plea: Sources

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim on Monday withdrew his parole plea, days after filing it saying that he wanted to attend to his agricultural fields. The sect head is currently lodged at Sunaria jail in Rohtak after being convicted in two rape cases and murder of a journalist. Following his application for the parole for 42 days, the jail superintendent had written to the Sirsa district administration.

In a letter dated June 18, the official had sought a report whether releasing Gurmeet on parole would be feasible or not.

In the communique, the jail superintendent mentioned that Gurmeet's conduct in jail has been good and he has not violated any rule. The Sirsa district administration has been asked to submit a report to the commissioner of Rohtak division with a copy marked to the jail superintendent.

Sirsa's Superintendent of Police Dr Arun Singh said that they had not yet given their report to the Sirsa deputy commissioner as various formalities have to be completed before doing so.

"The report will be prepared taking into account merits and demerits of the parole, if granted. On a routine basis, we prepare reports on parole applications based on merits and demerits of each case," he had news agency PTI.

"He has applied for parole, which he is entitled to. There is a procedure involved.

On receiving the letter, the Sirsa Police had approached the Revenue Department to ascertain how much land the Dera chief owns.

In August 2017, the Dera chief was sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two women. A special CBI court in Panchkula had in January this year also sentenced him and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist over 16 years ago.