Out on parole ahead of the Adampur by-election and panchayat polls in Haryana, Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, in a video message from the sect’s Uttar Pradesh ashram on Saturday, asked his followers to not exercise their free will and follow the directions of the sect’s elders.
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In a video of over two minutes on his YouTube channel called “Saint MSG”, Singh, a few hours after his release from Rohtak jail, asked his followers to adhere to what they were told. “You have to act as told by the sect elders. Don’t exercise your free will. Don’t cause stampede. Please follow this. You always adhere to what you are told. We are proud of you. We are proud of our children,” Singh said, adding that he would continue to interact with his followers while on parole.
Dera spokesperson Jitender Khurana, however, denied that there was any hidden political message in the video for Singh’s followers. He said “guru-ji” was only asking his followers to exercise restraint, not rush to the Uttar Pradesh ashram, and avoid creating a stampede-like situation. “He never had anything to do with politics,” Mr. Khurana said.
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According to the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 2022, a convict is eligible for 10 weeks of parole in a calendar year on the completion of one year of sentence, and this can be availed in two parts. The convicted prisoner can himself submit the parole application and need not assign any reason for it.
Singh has been lodged in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail since 2017 as a convict in rape and murder cases.
He was earlier granted 21 days furlough to meet his family members in Gurugram from February 7-27, which coincided with the Assembly elections in Punjab. Singh was again out from jail this year on month-long parole in June and stayed at the sect’s ashram in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat during this period.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court had in October 2021 sentenced Singh and four others to life imprisonment in the 19-year-old murder case of sect manager Ranjit Singh. In 2017, Singh was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for raping his two disciples.