Gurmeet Ram Rahim, the leader of Dera Sacha Sauda and currently on parole, was observed “celebrating” by slicing a cake with a sword.
The Sirsa-Dera leader, who is currently incarcerated for 20 years for rape and murder, escaped from the Sunaria Jail in the Rohtak region of Haryana on Saturday and made it to his Barnawa Ashram in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, after being granted a 40-day parole. A video of Ram Rahim’s celebration, which featured the gigantic cake, went popular on social media.
Ram Rahim mentioned in his request for bail that he intends to go to a ceremony on January 25 to mark the anniversary of the birth of former dera head Shah Satnam Singh.
Viral video of a cake cutting
The claimed video that has surfaced on social media features the Dera chief saying, “Since I finally had this opportunity to celebrate after five years, I must cut at least five cakes. This is the first cake.”
The public display of guns is prohibited by the Arms Act, incidentally (such as slicing a cake with a sword).
The members from Ram Rahim’s sect had planned and essentially launched a large cleaning campaign across many regions in Haryana and other states on Monday. The ceremony was attended by a few notable BJP members from Haryana, such as former minister Krishan Kumar Bedi and Rajya Sabha MP Krishan Lal Panwar.
Secured parole 4 times in last 14 months
In the previous 14 months, Ram Rahim has received parole four times, including thrice in the last three months. He was granted parole for 40 days in October 2022, just before the Adampur Assembly byelection and the Haryana panchayat election.
Case of the Murder
A special CBI court in Panchkula convicted him liable for raping two of his followers in August 2017. The CBI launched an investigation into the matter that had first been filed at Police Station Sadar in Kurukshetra, according to 2003 decisions of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana.
It was thought that Ranjit Singh, a local, was murdered on July 10, 2002, as he was engaged in his fields in the village of Khanpur Kolian in the Haryana district of Kurukshetra.
The CBI filed a charge sheet against six defendants in 2007 after conducting a thorough investigation. Charges were brought in 2008, and then on October 8, 2021, the judge ruled Rahim and four other accused persons guilty of killing former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.