Chandigarh, Aug 27 (IANS): Former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, convicted for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra and currently lodged at the Burail jail, has applied for nearly two weeks parole for looking after crops in his farmhouses, jail officials said here Friday.

Rathore, 68, was sentenced to 18 months rigorous imprisonment by the district and sessions court of Chandigarh after being convicted for molesting the teenager in 1990. She committed suicide three years later.

"Rathore had applied for parole around 15 days ago. In his plea, he had mentioned that he has two farmhouses in Panchkula district in Haryana and he has to look after the harvesting and cultivation of new crops. He said that there was nobody to take care of it in his absence," said a jail official, requesting not to be named.

"To check the authenticity of his plea, we have asked the Panchkula administration and district police chief to look into it and we are waiting for their reply," he added.

Rathore, the former Haryana director general of police, was sent to Burail jail here May 25 after the court upheld his conviction in the molestation case by a CBI special court in December and enhanced his jail term to 18 months.

However, Rathore had also filed a revision petition, challenging the sentence term, in the Punjab and Haryana High Court here, which has reserved its decision.

The complainant's family has strongly opposed the parole plea of Rathore.

"We strongly oppose this plea of Rathore. If he is out of the jail, he can try to interfere in the proceedings of this case by hampering the CBI probe and evidence. We are also not feeling secure as he can also harm us by using his influence," Anand Parkash, a complainant in the case, told IANS Friday.