-Utkarsh Upadhyay
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed distress on the violence that was seen following the conviction of Dera Sacha Suda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for rape.
Security personnel walk past a vehicle burnt in violence following Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s conviction in Panchkula on Friday.
An uneasy calm prevailed in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday after the widespread violence witnessed the previous day following Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s conviction in Panchkula. Here are the latest developments in events:
1. The Army along with the police and paramilitary forces has put up barricades at entry points of the Dera premises, where tens of thousands of Dera followers, including women and childen, stayed put despite an appeal by authorities to leave.
2. Home minister Rajnath Singh convened a high-level meeting at his residence to discuss and review the situation in Punjab and Haryana after yesterday’s violent rioting. Home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, NSA Ajit Doval and Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain were in attendance at the meeting.
3. Dera chief ‘s ‘Z-plus’ security cover was withdrawn after his conviction in a rape case, Haryana Chief Secretary D S Dhesi said today. He also denied any special treatment being given to theDera chief in a Rohtak jail after being held guilty in a 15- year-old rape case by a CBI court in Panchkula yesterday.
4. A day after large scale violence broke out over the conviction of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, authorities in Punjab relaxed curfew in Patiala, Bathinda and Ferozepur towns for four hours. In Haryana, curfew was relaxed in Kaithal town.
5. One person who was injured in Sirsayesterday, succumbed to his wounds on Saturday. Total three people have died in Sirsa, taking the overall death toll to 31 since violence broke out after the verdict in the rape case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
6. District administration and police has sealed two ashrams of Dera Sacha Sauda in Haryana’s Kurukshetra.
7. Prison authorities denied reports of special treatment being accorded to Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in Rohtak’s Sunaria Jail.
“Some channels and papers are reporting on special treatment to Ram Rahim. I clarify he is in Sunaria Jail, not in a guesthouse. Ram Rahim Singh is being treated as any normal prisoner. No attendant has been provided and there’s no AC in the cell he is lodged in,” said KP Singh, DG Prisons (Haryana).
8. Western Railways on Saturday cancelled 6 trains and partially cancelled 2 trains in the wake of law and order situation in Punjab and Haryana. Overall, 661 Haryana-Punjab-bound trains were affected in the last five days, with 309 express trains being cancelled and 58 trains diverted or short terminated.
