Parts of Haryana and Punjab plunged into chaos after the CBI court pronounced guilty verdict on Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a fifteen-year-old rape case on Friday as nearly 150,000 followers of the controversial dera head who had converged in Panchkula ahead of the court verdict, turned violent.
22 people have died in the violence in Panchkula so far that erupted after the court verdict on Friday. Over 200 people are reported injured in the violence.
The violent mob set hundreds of vehicles ablaze after Ram Rahim was taken into custody and taken to Rohtak by a state helicopter. His supporters who had been camping in Haryana for the last two days went on a rampage, damaging OB vans of many news channels and ransacking government buildings. The mob also clashed with the badly outnumbered security personnel who first used batons and fired teargas shells to control the rioting mob.
#WATCH | NDTV OB Van destroyed by rampaging mobs in Panchkula #RamRahimConvicted pic.twitter.com/UnbThf61RC — TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 25, 2017
Curfew has been imposed in many parts of Malwa region of Punjab where violence erupted after the court verdict. Railway stations in Malout, Mansa and Bathinda were set on fire and many vehicles were torched.
The dera followers have a sizeable presence in Mansa, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Moga and Patiala districts.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered on Friday to seize the properties of Dera Sacha Sauda to recover the damage caused by the rioting dera followers.
The controversial god-man was found guilty of raping two of his women followers in a 15-year-long case after one of the victims anonymously reported the crime to the then Indian prime minister and the state high court. A five-year painstaking investigation by India's Central Bureau of Investigation established a case against Ram Rahim and got the anonymous complainant to depose before the court.
The Haryana government is coping bitter criticism for not implementing the prohibitory orders effectively under section 144 which makes an assembly of five or more people unlawful. Though section 144 was proclaimed in Panchkula, however, the lax enforcement failed to stop the dera followers from thronging the city during the days leading to the court verdict.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal says on twitter that he has briefed India's home minister and the situation is being monitored extensively. He added that strict action will be taken against those who try to disrupt peace.
In almost similar turn of events, another murder accused self-proclaimed god-man got his followers to fortify the massive complex of his Ashram in Haryana to evade arrest despite court orders, leading to violent clashes between security personnel and his followers.
There were also of sporadic incidents of violence in Delhi on Friday where a train was set alight and surrounding areas.
