30 dead as dera followers run riot in Panchkula after godman held guilty; govt caught napping
250 INJURED Premis torch cars, hotel, petrol pump, rape case sentence to be pronounced on Monday CURFEW IN 8 PUNJAB DISTS 6 railway stations, BSNL exchanges, vehicles set afire across state VIOLENCE SPREADS Khattar admits to lapses, protesters burn two
PANCHKULA: At least 30 people were killed and 250 injured on Friday in widespread violence, arson and police firing after followers of Der a Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Ra him Singh went on a rampage in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana and Punjab.
While 28 people, mostly dera followers, were killed of purported bullet injuries inflicted by security forces in Panchkula, the epicentre of the violence where the court verdict was delivered, two died in Sirsa. The dera followers, enraged by conviction of the sect head in a 15-year-old rape case, ran riot minutes after the news broke out, leaving a trail of death and destruction in a span of just two hours.
HT journalists saw groups of 20-30 people in masks and carrying sticks marching towards the court house in Sector
3 after the verdict was announced. They asked residents to stay in and not film them on their mobile phones. The police responded with firing, lobbed tear gas and let loose water cannons on the violent protesters who hurled stones. Vivek Bhadu, chief medical officer at the civil hospital, said most of the deaths were from bullet wounds.
The mayhem, which started in Panchkula where thousands of dera followers had converged in the past three days, spread to other parts of Haryana and Punjab. They hurled petrol bombs and set on fire petrol pumps, telephone exchanges, railway stations and other government buildings. While over 100 vehicles were damaged in Haryana, six petrol pumps were set ablaze, eight power grids attacked, 20 sewa kendras ransacked in Punjab.
Curfew was clamped in Panchkula (later lifted), Sirsa and Kaithal in Haryana, and Patiala, Muktsar, Mansa, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur and Fazilka in Punjab.In Delhi, the sect supporters torched two train coaches and some buses.
“Adequate forces have already been deployed and if needed additional forces will be sent. I have assured them of all help,” Union home minister Rajnath Singh told reporters. PM Narendra Modi tweeted: “The instances of violence today are deeply distressing. I strongly condemn the violence (and) urge everyone to maintain peace.”
Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh slammed the Haryana government for allowing the situation to escalate. Under fire over his handling of the situation, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar late evening admitted that there were lapses. “This should not have happened,” he said. Earlier, the special CBI court convicted Ram Rahim in proceedings that lasted a total of seven minutes in a heavily fortified district court complex.
CBI judge Jagdeep Singh held the 50-year-old chief guilty of rape in a case that was registered on the basis of an anonymous letter in 2002 that he had sexually exploited two sadhvis. Thedera chief, attired in whites without a headgear, had come to the court accompanied by his adopted daughter.
After conviction, he was taken into custody and flown to Rohtak in a helicopter.
The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on August 28.
Haryana director general of police BS Sandhu told reporters that the state police have decided to shift the pronouncement of order out of Panchkula as a “precautionary measure”.