Uneasy calm returns after Dera violence

Death toll in violence and arson by frenzied followers of Ram Rahim rose to 36 on Saturday

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday castigated the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana over the deadly violence that erupted in the state, saying it had “surrendered” before the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for “political considerations”.

 

The government suspended the DCP of Panchkula over Friday’s violence that erupted following the rape conviction of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, as the situation in the state remained tense but under control.

 

The army, meanwhile, said it has no immediate plan of entering Dera Sacha Sauda sect headquarters in Sirsa and that it is focusing on maintaining law and order, reacting to reports that it had entered the premises.

 

The death toll in the violence and arson by the frenzied followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the head of Dera Sacha Sauda, rose to 36 on Saturday.

 

The Army along with the police and paramilitary forces has put up barricades at entry points of the Dera premises in Sirsa, where tens of thousands of Dera followers, including women and children, stayed put despite an appeal by authorities to leave.