Dera leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh receives 21-day parole, his 17th since 2020

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, has been approved for a 21-day parole that will see him depart Rohtak's Sunaria Jail and travel to Sirsa. This release constitutes his 17th parole or furlough since the first one in 2020, following a 30-day parole granted in May of this year. Singh is currently serving a 20-year sentence for the rape of two women disciples, a verdict delivered by a special CBI court in Panchkula in 2017.

He was also convicted in the killings of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh and journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, but the Punjab and Haryana high court later acquitted him of those charges. Haryana prison rules allow convicts to obtain up to 10 weeks of parole and three weeks of furlough annually, with time spent outside counted toward the sentence rather than as time served. His frequent paroles have attracted scrutiny, often aligning with significant events involving the Dera and its followers.