Dera chief case in court tmrw; Pb Hry seek central forces

Punjab and Haryana governments have sought central forces to deal with the situation if the verdict in a case against 'Dera Sacha Sauda' chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh goes against him, an official said.
Meanwhile, a special CBI Court in Panchkula today heard the matter pertaining to the sexual exploitation case against the 'Dera Sacha Sauda' chief.
"The arguments in the (sexual exploitation) case from both sides took place today in the court and they will continue tomorrow as well," said Ram Rahim Singh's counsel S K Garg Narwana here.
He informed that the court has now posted the matter for August 17.

A case was registered against Dera chief Singh in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about alleged sexual exploitation of female followers.
A charge sheet in the case was filed by the CBI in 2007.

The Dera chief has denied these charges.
Meanwhile, the chief secretaries and police chiefs of Punjab and Haryana met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in Delhi today to discuss the security arrangements.
Both states sought central forces to prevent any untoward incident in case the verdict goes against the Dera chief.
"Chief secretaries and DGPs of Punjab and Haryana met the Union home secretary today at Delhi and discussed the matter pertaining to the ongoing Dera chief court case," Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said today.

During the meeting, both Punjab and Haryana sought central forces from the Centre to deal with any kind of situation, the DGP said.
Both the states have sought central forces to prevent any law and order situation which might arise in case of adverse verdict against the Dera chief, he said.
Sandhu said that while Haryana sought a "sufficient" number of companies of central forces while Punjab sought 250 companies.
"We are prepared to deal with any kind of situation and will not allow it to deteriorate," said the Haryana DGP.
Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda has a large number of supporters in Punjab and Haryana.