A prisoner who came out from Rohtak’s Sunariya jail alleged the jail administration was favouring Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim by allowing him two hours meeting with his family members against the 20-minute meeting for other prisoners.

Rahul Jain, who came out on bail on Friday, said other prisoners were not even allowed 20 minutes to meet with their families on days when Ram Rahim appears in court through video conferencing.

He claimed that Ram Rahim stayed confined in barracks and does no work, against reports that he was growing vegetables in the jail at Rs 20 per day.  He, however, said neither he nor any other inmate has ever seen Ram Rahim in jail and only heard about him from officials.

He said prisoners faced extreme difficulties when Ram Rahim was brought to Rohtak jail. “Things changed when a prisoner told about these difficulties to a judge during his hearing in local court. The judge then wrote to jail officials, after which things have started getting better,” he said.

On Monday, the family members of Ram Rahim once again visited him at the jail. Jail authorities were not available for comment.