Cops and locals praised for tackling violence

MOHALI: The Mohali district administration has praised the efforts of the police and residents in tackling the situation when violence and arson erupted in Panchkula on Friday.

Sources inform, the Mohali district administration has managed to keep the private and public property safe given the tight police surveillance.

During and after the violence caused by the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda chief after he was held guilty in the rape case, the local police evacuated around 90,000 followers through Zirakpur, Derabassi and Lalru.

Mohali police are still searching and checking the vehicles entering in or through Mohali towards Panchkula or Chandigarh. Keeping the safety of the locals in mind, all senior officers of the civil and police administration carried out night patrolling in the entire district to flush out the followers. The gas stations in the Tricity were closed and security at religious places has been beefed up too.

Deputy Commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra said, “We have evacuated the Dera followers. More than 90,000 followers were sent out of the district in buses.” He further added, “The security of the residents is our top priority. We won’t let the people come and burn our city in front of our eyes. We were alert and our team did a commendable job.”

Sources added that there were a huge number of followers who had gathered in the city. When they were escaping from Panchkula towards Zirakpur, they were peaceful. “We saw and heard about the violence in Panchkula and we took every precautionary measure to stop the followers from damaging or vandalizing the property or life,” said one of the sources.

The evacuation of the Dera followers continued till late night as some of them were hiding. More than 500 buses were arranged to send the followers back to their places from Derabassi and Zirakpur.

SSP Mohali Kuldeep Singh Chahal said, “When we came to know that violence has erupted in other places such as Patiala and Bathinda, without further delay we ordered to close all the gas stations and also enhanced the security around all religious places. Due to tight security, there was no damage to property or life.”

The security in Zirakpur, Derabassi and Kharar and other areas in still tight and every vehicle is being checked properly and senior police officials are keeping a close eye on every check post.


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