FOLLOWERS EVICTED FROM DERA PUNJAB HQ SALABATPURA

BATHINDA Police on Saturday evicted about 90 followers from the premises of Salabatpura dera barring 30 people engaged in daily work. Curfew has been imposed around 500 of dera including Salabatpura, Adampura and Dulewala villages.

Even as the district administration relaxed curfew from 9am to 9pm in Bathinda, most of the roads wore a deserted look.

Inspector general of police (IGP), Bathinda zone, Mukhvinder Singh Chhina said the police searched all deras, including 11 in Bathinda, in the zone and evicted thefollowers, except dera staff, from the premises.

The Bathinda police have booked 100 persons, of whom 26 have been identified, for damaging public property in seven cases on Friday.

These cases have been registered atKotwali, Bathinda Sadar, Talwandi Sabo, Kotfatta, Rama, Phul and Sangat police stations. The police have already arrested 50 persons including eight persons related to violence and 42 persons in preventive custody.

With Punjab Police and paramilitary personnel keeping a close vigil, situation remained calm but tense in Bathinda, Faridkot, Moga, Fazilka and Ferozepur districts. Thousands of followers from this region, a hub of dera followers in Punjab, started reaching here with many of them seen waiting for buses at the city bus stand for their villages.

TWO COLUMNS OF ARMY DEPLOYED IN MANSA

In Mansa, security forces remained on high alert on Saturday as police officials, led by special task force additional director general of police conducted search on the Dera Sacha Sauda premises here. Two columns of army have been deployed in the district and a flag march was conducted in the area on Saturday morning. Curfew was relaxed for four hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. “Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has already been imposed. Most of the ‘premis’ have vacated the dera premises,” said the ADGP.