Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the chief of Dera Sacha Sauda who is serving a jail term after his conviction in a rape and murder case, was on Friday granted month-long parole.

He is in jail since 2017 in Haryana’s Sunaria jail where he is serving a 20-year-jail term for the rape of two women disciples at the headquarters of his ashram in Sirsa.

The Dera chief had been granted three weeks’ furlough in February this year, reported ANI.

It may be noted that parole means the release of a prisoner either temporarily for a special purpose or completely before the expiry of a sentence, on the promise of good behavior, while a furlough is a short-term temporary release of a convict from jail.

Singh was convicted by a special CBI court in Panchkula in August 2017 for raping two women followers.

On October 8, 2021, the court had convicted Rahim and four others in connection with the former Dera manager Ranjit Singh’s murder case.

Ranjit Singh had been murdered in 2002 on the premises of the Dera Sacha Sauda.