2 dead in Sirsa, stray arson in rest of Haryana
SIRSA: Two unidentified persons were killed and seven others received injuries in purported police firing after Dera Sacha Sauda followers went on rampage in Haryana’s Sirsa, the sect’s headquarters town, after its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of rape by a CBI court in Panchkula on Friday.
The town was put under curfew, and so were Panchkula, which saw massive violence, and Kaithal. In Sirsa, the followers — who call themselves premis (the loving ones) — torched a milk plant and a police bus in Sirsa soon after the conviction was announced. Security personnel struggled to halt the mob of the dera men 3 km away from the main city, bursting teargas shells and firing in the air on Begu Road that directly connects the town to the dera headquarters.
Sources said some dera followers threw burning petrol bottles at the municipal council office in Tohana and some tried to torch Ratia town tehsil office in neighbouring Fatehabad district. The 10-km Begu Road up to the dera headquarters turned into a battle zone between security forces and the mob of several hundreds. Despite curfew, residents too came out of their houses to save their property.
Tens of trucksof army personnel were called from the Hisar cantonment, 90 km away, to contain the situation that worsened in four hours of standoff between security forces and the dera mob on Begu Road.
Deputy civil surgeon Viresh Bhushan later told HT, “Nine patients came to the civil hospital. Two persons died of bullet injuries and three were referred to the Agroha Medical College.”
Meanwhile, an incident of arson was reported from Singhani village in Loharu sub-division of Bhiwani district, where some miscreants tried burning a 33 KV power stationby throwing bottles of petrol. Police said the control room of the station was burnt while locals managed to control the fire before it could reach the transformer.
Curfew was imposed in Kaithal district after dera followers torched three cars and a bike at a telephone exchange. Police rounded up four people for damaging machines of two petrol pumps in Cheeka town.
In Panipat, at least four government vehicles were torched by dera followers in a park. Police said the situation was under control. Shops were shut down in Kurukshetra and the police undertook a flag march. In Karnal, too, police carried out a flag march. Earlier, police lobbed teargas shells to control dera followers at a prayer centre in Kaithal.