PANCHKULA: More than 2,000 followers of Sirsa-based
Dera Sacha Sauda got into the “sealed“ city from Mansa Devi Complex on Thursday and reached within a kilometre of the district courts they plan to lay siege to before Friday's verdict in a rape trial against their sect leader.
Taken by surprise, police threw in additional security and barricades. They had to call in the paramilitary troops of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) to halt the dera march, which they did at the civil hospital turn in Sector 6, not far from the court area of Sector 1. After police warnings, the dera followers sat down in the parking lot of Sector 5.
Nearly 5,000 paramilitary troops laid 39 checkpoints across the city, sealing the five roads to the court with barbed-wire fences. The dividing roads of Sectors 12 and 16, the stretch from the old Panchkula traffic lights t o Ta n k C h ow k , M a j r i Chowk under the flyover to Zirakpur, and small roads near the court are closed till Friday.
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Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh case verdictDera Sach Sauda case: Highlights of Baba Ram Rahim case verdictPolice built new checkpoints at Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector 3, the overbridge of Sectors 232425, the Ghaggar bridge near Sector 21, the road under the Zirakpur-Kalka flyover in Sector 2, Majri Chowk, Sector 68 roundabout, Housing Board Chowk, Mansa Devi Complex gates, and the old Panchkula light point.
As the mounted police, motorcycle squad, PCR (police control room) patrol gypsies did flag marches in the district all day and night on Thursday to maintain public confidence along with law and order, the dera followers cooked and slept on the streets of Sectors 2, 3, 4, 5, and 23. Panchkula police commissioner AS Chawla said: “We warned them to maintain peace or face consequences.“
Security lockdownThe 5 0 ye a ro l d s e l f styled spiritual leader's trial has triggered a security lockdown in the states of Punjab and Haryana, besides the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Police have closed schools and converted a cricket stadium into a jail in case the followers of Gurmeet
Ram Rahim Singh
turn violent, if he is found guilty. Nearly 1.5-lakh dera followers are gathered in Panchkula already, in Sectors 3 and 23 mainly.
Arvind Bishnoi is a senior correspondent who covers all beats of ...
Read MoreArvind Bishnoi is a senior correspondent who covers all beats of Panchkula district, Panjab University and school education in Chandigarh. As a shadow, he covers Chandigarh crime, Chandigarh courts and Mohali administration. Arvind Bishnoi has been working with the TOI Chandigarh Edition since 2015. Arvind Bishnoi has done his Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication from Chitkara University, Rajpura campus.
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