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The Print
05-08-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Rape-murder convict Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim gets 40-day parole, his 14th release since 2017
Around 6:30 am Tuesday, Ram Rahim drove out of the jail in a convoy of seven SUVs under tight security, including two bulletproof Toyota Land Cruisers and two Toyota Fortuners, and headed directly to the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa. This comes just days ahead of his 58th birthday on 15 August, also India's Independence Day. His birthday is celebrated with much fanfare at the Dera Sacha Sauda's headquarters in Sirsa, where Ram Rahim will be staying during his parole. Gurugram: Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, convicted in rape and murder cases, walked out of the Rohtak's Sunaria jail Tuesday on a 40-day parole, his fourteenth release since his arrest in 2017. Sources said Ram Rahim sought parole to celebrate his birthday and preside over the sect's annual tree-planting drive, a signature event that witnesses lakhs of saplings being planted by his followers. Ram Rahim was convicted in August 2017 for raping two disciples, and was given a jail term of 20 years. In 2019, he was convicted for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and two years later for the murder of Dera manager Ranjit Singh. In both these cases, he has been awarded life imprisonment. Ram Rahim's latest parole follows a pattern of regular temporary releases. The Dera chief has will have spent nearly a year—364 days to be precise—outside jail since 2022, when the current parole ends, raising questions on the Haryana government's policies on parole under BJP rule. On May 28 last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him and four others in the Ranjit Singh murder case. The CBI's appeal against his acquittal is pending before the Supreme Court. His last release was on April 9, 2025, when he was given a 21-day furlough for the celebrations of the Dera's foundation day in Sirsa. Also Read: Rape-murder convict Ram Rahim out on furlough again, his 13th release since conviction in 2017 Victim family 'frustrated' Anshul Chhatrapati, son of slain journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, said frequent paroles and furloughs for Ram Rahim make the victim's family feel frustrated and that is why he has stopped responding to media queries now. 'However, this time I will give my reaction because I have a strong reason for this,' Anshul told ThePrint Tuesday, adding Ram Rahim's appeal against conviction in his father's murder case is being heard almost on a daily basis since 21 July by a division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Vikram Aggarwal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. 'Under these circumstances, the state government should not have given him the benefit of paroles or furloughs,' Anshul said. Sudesh Kumari, the general secretary of the Jan Sangharsh Manch, who led a prolonged agitation against the Dera after Chhatrapati's murder, said that people have stopped getting shocked and surprised at the frequent paroles and furloughs being granted to him. 'Ram Rahim has all the qualities that suit the BJP's style of politics. They need people who can drive people towards superstitions and drift them away from a scientific temperament. The BJP believes in getting people's votes by misguiding them in the name of religion. This is the reason we witness incidents of Muslims being beaten up or their shops or rehris being damaged,' she said. 'Ram Rahim's second quality is what he was first convicted for 20 years of imprisonment. The BJP has dual standards on women's safety. The party talks big on these issues, but does exactly the opposite. Everyone saw PM Modi seeking votes for Prajwal Revanna. But did PM ever expressed any regret or remorse for having campaigned for him after Revanna was convicted for rape?' she asked. ThePrint reached Chief Minister Nayab Saini's media advisor Parveen Attrey, information department media coordinator Ashok Chhabra and Haryana BJP spokesperson Sanjay Sharma through calls but they did not respond. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. A district-level BJP leader, however, denied that the government was giving any special treatment to the Dera Chief. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he rejected Sudesh Kumari's allegations and said the BJP government accords top priority to women's safety and works on the principle of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' without any discrimination based on religion or caste. The paroles Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been granted 14 temporary releases from jail after his first conviction in 2017. His first two emergency releases in October 2020 and May 2021 were for a day each to meet his ailing mother, as under the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988, he was not entitled to get benefit of temporary releases. However, after the Haryana government amended this act in 2022, which some alleged was done to benefit Ram Rahim Singh, he will have spent 364 days out jail between February 2022 to August 2025. During this period, he got a 21-day furlough on February 7, 2022, before the Punjab Assembly elections; 30-day parole on June 17, 2022 ahead of the Haryana municipal elections; and a 40-day parole on October 15, 2022 before the Adampur assembly byelection in Punjab. In 2023, Ram Rahim got 40-day parole on 21 January ahead of his predecessor Shah Satnam Singh's birth anniversary on 25 January; 30-day parole on June 20, before the Haryana panchayat elections; and 21-day furlough on 21 November, ahead of the Rajasthan Assembly elections. In 2024, before the Lok Sabha elections, he got 50-day parole on January 19; 21-day furlough on August 13 ahead of his 57th birthday, and 20-day parole on October 3, days before the Haryana Assembly elections. In the current year, Ram Rahim got 30-day parole, a week before the Delhi Assembly elections on January 28; 21-day furlough, around the Dera's foundation day on April 9 and now, 40-day parole ahead of his 58th birthday on August 5. These releases, often aligning with significant electoral or personal milestones, have allowed him to stay at Dera headquarters in Sirsa or ashrams in Bagpat, sparking debates over the timing and frequency of his temporary freedom. The modified parole laws The Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988 sets a set of circumstances for granting parole, including death in the family, critical illness, marriage, or farm requirements etc. Anshul Chhatrapati alleged that the government amended this law in 2022 by doing away with the conditions to help Ram Rahim Singh, who didn't fall under any of the conditions mentioned in the 1988 law. Under the 2022 Act, convicts who have received more than 10 years of imprisonment are eligible for 10 weeks of parole every year, which can be taken in two instalments, with the duration spent outside added to the period of punishment. Besides this, the prisoner is entitled to 21 days of furlough every year. Sudesh Kumari, however, alleged that the certificate of good conduct is issued by the authorities who are under the state government. A senior official from the Haryana Prisons Department, however, told The Print on the condition of anonymity that the state replaced the Haryana Good Conduct Prisoners (Temporary Release) Act, 1988, with the 2022 iteration to 'streamline' the process. 'The new Act makes the process less hassled, and paroles are issued on the basis of good conduct and administrative clearance,' the officer explained to The Print. The head of Dera Sacha Sauda has had good equations with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose leaders were seen advocating for him even ahead of his 2017 conviction. Three years before his sentencing in rape and murder cases, senior BJP leaders, including then Haryana in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, visited the Dera headquarters in Sirsa. Vijayvargiya took 44 BJP candidates with him to meet Ram Rahim and seek his blessings before the Haryana Assembly elections in 2014. Before this, the Dera Sacha Sauda extended its open support to the BJP with its followers participating in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally at Sirsa on 11 October, 2014, with banners of the Dera. Months before his conviction, Ram Rahim Singh shared a dais with then chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar during a joint sanitation campaign by the local authorities and the Dera at Karnal on 6 May 2017. Since 2014, the Dera has publicly extended electoral support to the BJP, with a strong call to back the party in Haryana assembly elections made at a clandestine meeting at Sirsa 5 October 2024, immediately after Ram Rahim's 20-day parole. Cases against Ram Rahim Ram Rahim's legal trouble started in 2017 when a special CBI court in Panchkula sentenced him to 20 years for raping two female disciples. In 2019, he was convicted for murdering journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, and in 2021, for killing Dera manager Ranjit Singh. The Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him in the Ranjit Singh case in May 2024 on grounds of 'tainted and sketchy' investigations, but the Supreme Court is now hearing a CBI appeal. Further, Ram Rahim is on trial for reportedly castrating men in the Sirsa ashram, a case that critics have said would be tainted by the frequency of his visits to the Dera. The Dera Sacha Sauda, started by Shah Mastana in 1948 and headed by Shah Satnam Singh from 1963 until 1990, became a socio-spiritual organisation under Ram Rahim with a huge following in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and beyond. (Edited by Ajeet Tiwari) Also Read: Why a Panchkula court has allowed prime witness to appear virtually in castration case against Ram Rahim
Belfast Telegraph
26-06-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
Viable device found during Co Down security alert
Police said the suspicious object was found in a property in the Linden Place area of Newtownards close to the Donard Avenue area of the town. Pictures from the scene last night showed two bomb disposal vans and two Toyota Land Cruisers belonging to Army search teams also present. The road had been closed for a number of hours while the police carried out their investigation. In an update this morning, PSNI Sergeant Fenton said: 'Police received a report at approximately 5.25pm yesterday, Wednesday 26th June, of a suspicious object located inside a residential property in the area. 'Officers attended the scene together with ammunition technical officers, and examined the device, which was discovered to be viable. 'A number of neighbouring properties were evacuated, as enquiries were conducted, and the device was secured and taken away for further examination. 'Residents were allowed to return to their homes shortly after midnight today, Thursday 26th June. 'Our enquiries are ongoing this morning, and we would appeal to anyone with any information which might assist us to contact 101, quoting reference number 1243 of 25/06/25.'
Belfast Telegraph
25-06-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
Police at the scene of security alert in Co Down
Ammunition technical officers are on scene after a suspicious device was discovered in the Donard Avenue area of Newtownards. Pictures from the area show two bomb disposal vans and two Toyota Land Cruisers belonging to army search teams also present. Police have been contacted for comment.
The Citizen
06-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Ulterio Motiv taking centre stage at annual Land Cruiser festival
A pair of six-wheel-drive models, powered by the new 2.8 GD-6 engine, will take prominence. Ulterio Motiv will debut three products at the event, one being the depicted single cab 6×6 Land Cruiser. Picture: Ulterio Motiv Ulterio Motiv will exhibit a total of three of their modified Toyota Land Cruisers at this year's Hankook Land Cruiser Festival that begins today (6 June) and runs till Sunday (8 June). Held annually, the Land Cruiser Festival caters not only to Toyota Land Cruiser enthusiasts, but also to companies supplying products, upgrades, and equipment for these vehicles. Taking place at Sondela Nature Reserve & Spa, the event will feature over 50 exhibitors, a range of activities, and another Toyota Land Cruiser Africa record attempt. Three vehicles On display, all three vehicles feature a converted 6×6 design with a bespoke Ulterio Motiv chassis. These include a Land Cruiser 79 2.8 GD-6 single cab 6×6, a double cab 2.8 GD-6 6×6 and the armoured Max 3 made in conjunction with SVI Engineering. ALSO READ: Four-pot Toyota Land Cruiser 70-series shows less can be more For the latter though, Ulterio Motiv has converted the chassis to accommodate three axles and a 6×4 capability. Record attempt Ulterio Motiv will also take part in the new Land Cruiser Africa record attempt. Their mechanical expert and vehicle builder, Juan Vosloo, along with their Business Development Director Nicol Louw, will be present during most of the show to engage with showgoers and interested buyers. Event details Date: Friday 6 June to Sunday 8 June Cost: Day visitors R60, Cruiser Challenge from R350 Venue: Sondela Nature Reserve & Spa Events details of the annual Land Cruiser festival which kicks-off today. Picture: Land Cruiser Festival More details Ulterio Motiv focuses on building unique concepts for specialist buyers. Founded in 2022, Ulterio Motiv is channelling its resources into technology and innovative design to deliver exceptional and thrilling products tailored specifically to clients with distinctive requirements. You can visit Ulterio Motiv at to find out more about their services and products. NOW READ: Six-wheel Toyota Land Cruiser primed to take on any battle
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Officials spark backlash after leaked memo reveals stunning use of taxpayer money: 'People should now understand the kind of leaders they have'
A leaked government memo has stirred outrage across Kano State, Nigeria. According to 21st Century Chronicle, the document revealed that 44 local government councils were directed to collectively release N670 million (roughly $470,000) for luxury cars — not for infrastructure, education, or public health, but for Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II. According to a memo dated March 25 and leaked in May, the funds were earmarked for refurbishing a 1969 Rolls-Royce and a Cadillac limousine, as well as procuring four brand-new Toyota Land Cruisers. The money, taken from the State/Local Government Joint Account, was to be funneled through a private firm, Sottom Synergy Resources Ltd. The backlash was immediate. Isah Bello, a member of the Kano State Community of Practice for budget tracking, called the funding allocation unconstitutional, saying it "was not captured in the 2025 budget. The local governments are entitled to their money, and there is no provision whatsoever to compel them to source those funds." Civil Society for Justice's Umar Saidu echoed that sentiment, explaining many initially assumed the memo was fake — a reaction that speaks volumes about the public's faith in governance. Critics say the decision contradicts Kano's stated citizen-first policies. "People should now understand the kind of leaders they have," said local resident Idris Gora, slamming the move as a betrayal of public trust, according to 21st Century Chronicle. At a time when Kano residents face pressing social challenges — including youth unemployment and rising crime — allocating taxpayer money to vintage cars sends the wrong message. "The decision by the state government was poorly conceived and wrongly implemented," added Dr. Shetima Abdullahi, a lecturer at Kano State Polytechnic. Still, state officials insist the purchases are routine. Commissioner for Information Ibrahim Abdullahi Wayya defended the decision, stating the cars are meant to "protect and promote" the emirate's image, not serve as personal perks for the monarch. Whether legal or not, the move is fueling frustration around misused public funds — especially in an era where fiscal transparency and community-first planning are more vital than ever. As cities around the world invest in cleaner transit, local food systems, and sustainable housing, missteps like this serve as a reminder of why citizen participation in budgeting and public accountability matters — for people and for the planet. Should the government be paying us to upgrade our homes? Definitely Depends on how much it costs Depends on what it's for No way Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
