Punjab on high alert ahead of Dera Sacha Sauda chief verdict: CM

Punjab is on high alert ahead of a Haryana court verdict this week in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief and has received 75 companies of central forces to maintain law and order, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday.

Warning against any attempts to disrupt peace, he told reporters in New Delhi that his government would not allow any disruption of law and order at any count and directed the state police to thwart any attempt to destroy peace.

"We have received 75 companies of central forces to maintain security and all steps were being taken to ensure that law and order is not disturbed in any way in the wake of the court orders," he said.

The people should accept any court judgment, said Amarinder Singh, appealing to all to maintain peace.

A Special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Haryana's Panchkula will pronounce its verdict in the rape case against Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on August 25. The case hearing has been going on since 2007.

The sect chief, who has lakhs of followers in Punjab, Haryana, and other states, has been accused by a former female follower of raping her more than once inside the sprawling Dera campus on the outskirts of Sirsa town in Haryana, 260 km from Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora on Tuesday visited Bathinda and other sensitive districts bordering Haryana for a first-hand assessment of the security arrangements.

He reviewed the arrangements in the district and instructed all police personnel to remain alert to any attempt to disturb the harmony of the state, an official statement said.

Besides Bhatinda, Arora also visited Mansa, Moga, Patiala, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Mohali towns.

Heavy police deployment has been made in Bathinda, which shares its border with Sirsa, where the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda are located.

--IANS

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