Dera Sacha Sauda takes India for a ride,unleash terror all over North India

New Delhi,August25:Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was Friday found guilty of raping two ‘sadhvis’ (female followers) by the CBI court in Panchkula, Haryana. The quantum of the sentence will be announced on Monday, August 28. The Dera chief faces up to seven years in jail.

Dera Sacha Sauda (colloquially DSS) is a self proclaimed “non-profit social welfare and spiritual organisation” that was established on 29 April 1948 by Mastana Balochistani, an ascetic, as a centre for spiritual learning. Its main centre is situated in Sirsa, Haryana, northern India.

The organisation has 46 ashrams (divisions) across India and branches in countries such as the United States, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Australia and the United Kingdom. DSS presently has more than 6 crore (60 million) followers worldwide.

Immediately after the verdict, many Dera followers including large number of women started crying.

Some followers went berserk and also allegedly damaged OB vans of a private TV channel.

Police lobbed tear gas shells, used water canons and batons in an attempt to bring the situation under control.

The Dera followers pelted stones and broke security cordon.

DSS followers set fire to trains and busses in Delhi.

They make Panchkula a living hell, burn cars and bikes,smash and resort to arson of NEWs reporter vans and personnel.

3:53 pm: Mob sets HT photojournalist Ravi Kumar’s scooter on fire.

3:53 pm: Police start running away from mob at Hafed chowk, scores of vehicles vandalized, tear gas fills the air.

3:57 pm: Curfew imposed in three Punjab town — Ferozepur, Mansa and Bathinda.

3:58 pm: Fear of mob entering houses grips people in places adjoining Panchkula such as Peer Muchala.

4:01 pm: Ram Rahim boards chopper, taken to Rohtak.

4: 06 pm: Mob enters Sector 3 residential area in Panchkula.

4:05 pm: Balluana village railway station, situated near Abohar in Bathinda district, burnt by angry mob.

4:09 pm: Curfew imposed in Panchkula.

4:14 pm: Power house in Punjab’s Sangrur set on fire.

4:19 pm: At least one confirmed dead near Hafed chowk in Panchkula

4:21 pm: Income tax office in Panchkula’s Sector 2, petrol pump in Sector-4 set on fire.

4: 36pm: Curfew imposed in Patiala and Fazilka districts of Punjab

4:40 pm: Journalists continue to come under attack in Panchkula and Sirsa.

4:45 pm: Police Training Centre resthouse in Sunaria in Rohtak district notified as jail for dera chief; he has been taken there in chopper .

4:49 pm: Two vehicles set on fire in Mansa.

4:51 pm: Railway station in Dagroo village of Punjab’s Moga set on fire.

4:56 pm: Mob being chased out on the highway by the police.

4:57 pm: Dera followers enter a school in Punjab’s Patiala.

4:57 pm: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar calls for emergency cabinet meet.

4:55 pm: Balluanna railway station in Punjab has now been set on fire. This is increasingly getting out of control. Reports of tear gas shells being fired in Sirsa, the headquarters of the Dera as well. Meanwhile, Haryana CM ML Khattar has called for an emergence cabinet meeting.

5.04 pm: Three more deaths confirmed in Panchkula, where the dera chief was declared guilty in rape case; death toll now eight.

5:08 pm: Security of Rohtak handed over to CRPF. Rohtak was the centre of widespread Jat quota violence in February 2016.

5:11 pm: Mob being pushed out of Panchkula, towards Zirakpur and Punjab.

5:12 pm: Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh blames Haryana government for “allowing gathering of dera followers in large numbers in Panchkula”. Says curfew imposed in five districts of Punjab as a “precautionary measure”.

5:15 pm: Union home minister Rajnath Singh takes stock of the situation.

5:17 pm: Reports of violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Loni as well

5:19 pm: Around 500 dera followers, who were sitting peacefully, rounded up by the police.

5:24 pm: Punjab and Haryana high court says Dera will have to pay for damages caused.

5: 32 pm: Thousands of dera followers, dejected but not violent anymore, pushed out of Panchkula; leave Panchkula in buses from Zirakpur bus stop.

5:34 pm: Some places in Delhi, including Anand Vihar, report some violence. Information awaited.

CBI judge Jagdeep Singh, while holding the 50-year-old Dera chief guilty of rape, said the quantum of sentence will be pronounced on August 28, CBI counsel HPS Verma told reporters outside the court.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was chargesheeted for only in 2007. Ram Rahim began his journey from Sirsa to the CBI court in Panchkula with a convoy of around 182 cars.

To deal with security concerns, Punjab and Haryana have made high security arrangements. 97 paramilitary companies have been deployed acorss the two states. Two army units have been called.

There have been media reports that Ram Rahim’s supporters have been stockpiling weapons and petrol bombs. Normal life in many areas in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh has come to a halt.

The rioters have torched at least two railway stations, a power grid and petrol pumps in Haryana. In Delhi, a train has been set on fire in Anand Vihar and two buses have also been torched.

Media persons, including News18 staff, have also been attacked. The government’s claims of keeping the situation under control have fallen flat. The controversial godman-turned-actor now faces minimum of 10 years in jail since the victim was a minor at the time of the sexual assault.