Toll climbs to 31 in Haryana violence, situation tense

The death toll in the violence that erupted in Haryana after the rape conviction of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief has climbed to 31 and the situation "is tense but under control", the Union Home Ministry on Saturday said.

"As per Panchkula Control Room in Haryana, the situation in Panchkula and Sirsa is very tense but under control," a home ministry spokesperson said.

There were reports that 31 people lost their lives in the violence since Friday. Among the total fatalities, 29 were in Panchkula and two in Sirsa, he said. The headquarters of the sect led by the self-styled guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh are in Sirsa.

Violence erupted in Panchkula on Friday after a CBI court convicted Ram Rahim in a 15-year-old case. The situation in most of the part of Haryana is tense, the official said. Sources said no fresh incident of violence was reported till 6am on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the army has no immediate plan of entering Dera Sacha Sauda sect headquarters here and it is focusing on maintaining law and order in the wake of violence triggered by the rape conviction of sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim, a top officer said on Saturday.

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.

"There is no plan so far to enter the Dera headquarters here. We are focusing on maintenance of law and order presently," General Officer Commanding(GOC), 33 Armoured Division, Rajpal Punia said in a media briefing.

His remarks came after Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ram Niwas on Saturday said that search of all 'congregation centres' of Dera Sacha Sauda in Haryana has been ordered.

Punia said that there is a high level of coordination among the police, paramilitary and army personnel on the ground and there is no plan so far to enter the Dera headquarters. On Friday night, the Army carried out a flag march in the area. Normal life has come to a standstill due to restrictions imposed by the authorities to prevent any untoward incident.

Earlier, Sirsa sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Paramjit Singh Chahal said, "There is still no order for the Army to enter the campus. They are only ensuring enforcement of curfew in the area." The Army and district authorities have been appealing through loudspeakers, asking those inside the Dera premises to leave. Fifteen Dera followers have been arrested since last night here, police said. "We will not spare those who have taken the law into their hands. We will take strict action against then," IG (Hisar) A S Dillo said outside the Dera headquarters.

Sources said the Army was on Friday night provided with the map of the sprawling dera campus, which is spread over nearly 1,000 acres and is a township on its own, with schools, sports village, hospital and cinema hall.