Army personal deployed on the route CBI court to sector 6 (after violence by Dera Supporters after verdict on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim) on Saturday, August 26 2017. (Source: Express photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
Curfew has been relaxed for five hours in and around the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa on Sunday, two days after restrictions were imposed on August 24. Commercial establishments including petrol pumps and stores were allowed to open in the area, news agency PTI reported.
Ahead of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s sentencing in the rape case on Monday, four columns of Army have cordoned off the Dera’s headquarters on Saturday and appealed to the scores of Dera followers inside to immediately vacate the 1000 acre premises. Paramilitary forces and state police have also formed a second security cordon outside the headquarters and a deadline till 8 am was set for the followers to leave.
Meanwhile, a CBI court judge will travel to the prison where Ram Rahim is being housed to decide on the quantum of the sentence. A seven-layer security cordon has been laid around the jail to prevent a repeat of Friday’s violence that left at least 36 dead.
Here are the live updates:
3:30 pm: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has given an assurance that peace will be maintained in the violence-hit areas of the state. He also added that the curfew would continue and any decision on relaxation or lifting it would be taken only after reviewing the situation, ANI reported.
3:10 pm: A media person was beaten up and his vehicle vandalised near Dera Sacha Sauda’s headquarter in Sirsa earlier today, ANI reported.
3:05 pm: Speaking about media persons who had visited the Dera headquarters, Prabhjot Singh said that they had gone for an adventure by taking the back alleys where the forces were not present. “Jo Media-karmi subah gaye they wo adventure karne ke liye galiyon se hokar gaye they humare forces ke saamne kabhi nahi nikle,” he told ANI.
3:00 pm: Deputy Commissioner of Sirsa Prabhjot Singh has said that the number of followers inside Dera is dropping. The police is helping the followers in leaving back for their homes, ANI reported. Singh also said that there will no relaxation in the curfew tomorrow and it will be imposed throughout the day.
2.:50 pm: The 8 supporter who have been detained by the Panipat police raised anti-national slogans and threatened to disrupt peace during a gathering on August 20, according to DSP Panipat, ANI reported.
2:40 pm: Eight Dera Sacha Sauda followers were arrested in Panipat district of Haryana under sedition charges, ANI reported.
2:30 pm: Due to the tensions in region of Punjab ahead of the sentencing of Ram Rahim Singh in the rape case, the schools in the state will remain close on Monday.
2:25 pm: Former Bollywood actress Twinkle Khanna, who has recently gained attention for her sarcastic commentaries on on-going issues and trends, wrote a blog on the on-going clashes in Punjab and Haryana following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. In the blog titled, “When the Love Charger ran out of battery”, Khanna wrote that the followers of the self-styled godman forgot humanity, even though they call themselves as “Insaan”. “Mayhem spread across parts of Punjab and Haryana as his followers, who call themselves Insan, forgot about their humanity and went about threatening to ‘wipe out India’.” Read More
2:10 pm: The total number of army columns which have been deployed in Haryana to keep a check on possible violence are as follows: Panchkula(12), Sirsa (12), Mansa (02), Malaut (02).
2:00 pm: Dera followers in Sirsa have invented their own monetary system for everyday transactions with the people, news agency PTI reported. Those who own shops use plastic ‘coins’ of Rs 10 and Rs 5 to tender change to customers. The names of the shops belonging to Dera supporters begin with ‘Sach’ and the coins are engraved with the words ‘Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera hi Asara, Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa.’
1:35 pm: A day after the angry Dera supporters went on a rampage, Haryana Minister and BJP MLA from Rohtak Manish Grover making a controversial statement said that the violence was “natural” and it was an expression of their “natural anger”.“When there is a crowd of 50,000-1 lakh and they have devotion towards Babaji, tab unmen ek natural gussa ata hai (they have a natural anger). Wo gussa aya (they got angry), it remained for an hour or two, but the government controlled that,” said Grover, adding that “this was natural”. Read More
1:25 pm: The BJP leadership, however, is unlikely to act against Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and denied any contemplation over his replacement. BJP general secretary in-charge of Haryana, Anil Jain, made it clear while talking to The Sunday Express that “there is no such consideration”. The senior party leaders said the focus, at the moment, is on restoring peace, and preventing any untoward incident on Monday, when the court is set to pronounce its sentence. Read More
1:20 pm: After violence in parts of Punjab and Haryana following the conviction of Dera chief Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, Punjab and Haryana High Court slammed Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP government in the state of Haryana and accused it of “protecting the dera” for political reasons. The Opposition parties have also slammed Khattar and asked him to submit his resignation. On the other hand, Khattar himself lauded the efforts of his government for handling the situation “well”. According to sources, the top brass of the state received CM’s appreciation on Saturday for doing a “good job”. Read More
12:50 pm: The attack happened at around 10:20 am outside the dera, where the TV18 crew comprising of cameraman Sunil, reporter Dharamvir Sharma were working along with the driver of the vehicle, Inderjit. The curfew hours were relaxed at the time. The crew, who were in Swift Dzire, were chased by a group of men in a Swift car, who followed them till 6 km. The crew found a police barricade, and could not evade the men who were chasing them. The group of men inside the car came out, pulled out the crew members and beat them in front of police and paramilitaries at the barricade. Speaking to Express, Sharma said, “We were assaulted in front of security personnel.”
12:40 pm: Speaking to ANI, the news cameraman who was beaten up in Sirsa, Sunil Kumar said, “I was shooting when curfew was relaxed. People outside Dera chased and beat us up with stone and batons. They snatched my camera bag, Live-U and my vehicle.”
12:30 pm: A security footage was released by ANI which reportedly showed a building in Panchkula being vandalised allegedly by Dera founder supporters. We, at the moment, cannot confirm the credibility of the video. Watch video below:
#WATCH A building vandalized in Panchkula allegedly by #GurmeetRamRahimSingh supporters (25.8.17) #Haryana pic.twitter.com/t8AJiQezIt
— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2017
12:15 pm: According to PTI, the journalist who was beaten up on Sunday in Sirsa, was a 35-year old cameraman of a news channel, Sunil Kumar. He was allegedly beaten up by the followers of Ram Rahim Singh after he tried to enter the campus of the sect. According to the report, the group of followers damaged his camera and ran away with his car. Kumar has suffered injuries in his hand and leg and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Speaking to PTI, senior police official said that they have recovered the car from the culprits and a complaint was filed by the victim.
#SpotVisuals: Media person beaten up, vehicle vandalized in Haryana’s Sirsa near #DeraSachaSauda #GurmeetRamRahim pic.twitter.com/lcHOKyomHG
— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2017
12:00 pm: After the violence in Panchkula and Sirsa following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, local residents from areas of Mohali came out of their houses to guard the gurudwaras located in these areas on Saturday. The residents also stood on guard at the security gates of their residential areas. Read More
11:50 am: As per a report in news agency ANI, Army carries out flag march in Sirsa district of Haryana.
Dera violence: Army carries out flag march in Sirsa. (Source: ANI)
11:45 am: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday said that he will go to South Punjab to check out the situation. Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said, “We are going towards southern Punjab,where #DeraSachaSauda supporters have greater hold, to check if everything is all right there.”
11:40 am: According to report from news agency PTI, the situation in curfew-hit parts of Haryana anad Punjab is calm but still tension seems to be in the air with the quantum of sentence up for announcement on Monday. Curfew was relaxed at some places in the morning including Sirsa district of Haryana, but it was later reimposed.
11:30 am: A bit of information about Deras or sects: Deras or sects are as old as Sikh faith itself. The followers of the sect comrpise of people belonging to every caste, but is mainly dominated by Dalits and other backward classes. Read More
11:20 am: Curfew has been reimposed in Sirsa, reports ANI. Earlier, reports from the district where the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda is located, said that a journalist was beaten up and his vehicle was vandalised.
11:10 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the violent clashes in Haryana in his Mann Ki Baat speech on Sunday. PM Modi said those committing violence will not be spared. “Violence in the name of faith will not be tolerated. Whether it is the faith based on community, political ideology, individual or tradition,” he added.
10:45 am: Many followers who were in Panchkula on the day of the judgment said they were told therw was going to be a satsang. Some of them were in Panchkula for “fun”. Several of them were not even aware of the fact that Dera Sacha Sauda founder was to be put on trial for rape. CLICK HERE to read stories of some of the victims of the violent clashes and what or who motivated them to visit Panchkula.
10:36 am: According to reports, a journalist was beaten up in Sirsa district of Haryana, nearby the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda, on Sunday. We will give you more updates as and when we will get it.
10:30 am: The family of journalist Ram Chandrer Chhatarpati, who was allegedly killed by suspected dera followers in 2002 for his reports relating to the allegations of that the dera head was sexuyally exploiting women in his ashram, are hoping that they might receive justice after Ram Rahim was convicted in a rape case. We welcome the verdict. Not only to us, it has given hopes to the people of entire country that justice is possible even if the fight is against a powerful person like the dera chief. It has also given a strong message that the judiciary can’t be taken for granted,” Chhatrapati’s son Anshul, 35, said. The next hearing for the case will be heard on September 16. Read More
10:25 am: Doctors tending to the victims of the clashes told reporters that most of the injured victims had suffered pellet wounds. Speaking to media, nodal offier of the Trauma centre, Dr Sameer Agarwal said, “We noticed that the weapons were used properly. Nobody had injuries above the abdomen, or pellet wounds in the head or eyes.” Most of the patients had pellet wounds, he added. Read More
10:20 am: Following tension in Haryana and Punjab over conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the state government on Saturday imposed Section 144 (Unlawful Assembly) of the Criminal Procedure Code in west UP’s nine districts bordering the two states. Followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh belong to many of these districts. Read More
9:45 am: Haryana DGP BS Sandhu spoke to media on Sunday and said Dera Sacha Sauda’s chief Gurmeet Ram Ram Singh was taken in a police car. “Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s bodyguards wanted to take him in his car,but as he was convicted we said he will be taken in police car,” the DGP said. He further added that the bodyguards misbehaved but they were arrested by the police. “There was an argument and finally he was taken in the police vehicle. We arrested the bodyguards who misbehaved,” Sandhu said.
9.00 am: “I was not able to purchase essential items for my household since Thursday night due to imposition of curfew. I
will buy sufficient stock of such items,” Surender Soni, a resident of Begu area near Dera headquarters said.
