Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim walks out of jail on 40-day parole, 14th such relief in 8 years

The self-styled godman will return to jail on September 14

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Tuesday walked out of Haryana's Sunaria jail on parole for the 14th time – this time for 40 days.

As he walked out of the jail under tight security, he immediately left for the Dera Ashram in Haryana’s Sirsa.

The self-styled godman will return to jail on September 14 and during these entire 40 days, he will be staying at his Sirsa-headquartered Dera.

Earlier, he was released on a 21-day furlough on April 9 this year.

The timing of Ram Rahim's releases has often stirred controversy, particularly when they coincide with elections or religious events.

Singh was granted a 30-day parole in January in the run up to the Delhi Assembly polls conducted on February 5.

He was also granted a 20-day parole on October 1 last year, ahead of the October 5 Haryana Assembly polls.

Singh was convicted in 2017 for raping two of his disciples.

In May last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted the Dera chief and four others in the 2002 murder of the sect’s former manager Ranjit Singh, citing “tainted and sketchy” investigations into the matter.

Earlier, a special CBI court sentenced them to life imprisonment in the nearly 20-year-old murder case. It held Singh guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy with his co-accused.

The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda has a number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states. In Haryana, the Dera has a sizable number of followers in many districts, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar.