Gurmeet Ram Rahim, head of Dera Sacha Sauda claims to have over 60 million followers worldwide. Baba was also found guilty in the rape case, murder and forced castrations by a special CBI court on 25 August 2017.
After 200 hearings spread over 10 years and numerous stay orders of higher courts, a CBI special trial court in Panchkula on Friday convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, in a case related to raping his female followers.
Thus, he was taken into custody after found guilty in the 2002 rape case. He has been lodged in Sunaria jail’s ‘approval cell’ in Rohtak, will now be identified as Prisoner Number 1997. From Wednesday, parts of Haryana, Punjab, and Chandigarh have been under a security lockdown as 200,000 supporters of Ram Rahim had assembled in Panchkula ahead of the verdict.
However, as per the latest reports, Gurmeet Ram Rahim is finally in the regular jail after completing all the formalities. As far as his first-day experience in the jail is concerned, it was very hard.
The Dera sect head spent his first prison night by roaming inside the cell till midnight, prison officials said. According to the officials, the lone approval cell in the Rohtak jail has a total capacity of 12, but Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been kept in ‘solitary confinement’.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim who used to live a luxurious life in a personalized cave (Gufa) at his Dera, spent the whole night lying on the hard floor of the jail. Police director general said, “The Dera chief has been kept with other prisoners and no separate arrangements have been made for him. He was allowed to take only his clothes to his cell.”
Four prison officials have been put on duty near the Dera head’s barrack to monitor his activities, DGP (Jails) K P Singh said. “No special treatment is being given to him. He is being treated like any other ordinary prisoner. An ordinary prisoner sleeps on the floor and he too is doing the same,” the DGP said.
The official though admitted that keeping a high-profile prisoner secure inside the jail was a challenge, he added that all adequate measures were being taken to avoid any trouble. “We have made all arrangements inside the prison to keep the Dera chief secure. He has no contact with other inmates,” he said.
It was said that Gurmeet Ram Rahim complained about his back pain and requested an appointment with his personal physician. The request was turned down and jail doctors checked him. There were reports suggesting that the Baba is getting VIP treatment from the police and has been kept in a special air conditioned guest house. But the police denied such news.