Gurmeet Ram Rahim verdict aftermath LIVE : Army conducts flag march in Sirsa

Meanwhile, a CBI court judge will travel to the prison where Ram Rahim is being housed to decide on the quantum of the sentence. A seven-layer security cordon has been laid around the jail to prevent a repeat of Friday’s violence that left at least 36 dead.

Here are the live updates: 

11: 26 pm: Rohtak DC said that shoot-at-sight orders will be implemented if anti-social elements will try to harm self or others, will take strong action acc to situation

11: 24 pm: Delhi Police PRO Madhur Verma said that fake traffic advisory have been circulated, no such advisory issued. No road closures, metro remains as per schedule.

10:30 pm: Schools to remain open tomorrow. No instructions from Delhi police to close them. Social media rumors should not be believed, says Delhi Police PRO

9:15 pm: Authorities have taken additional measures to prevent violence following the sentence on Monday.  Special Weapons and Tactics(SWAT) teams and reserve forces have been deployed. Police conducted flag marches in sensitive areas including North East Delhi. Delhi was put on high alert on Friday night after violence reached the capital from Panchkula. The high alert continued to remain in force today with the police patrolling different areas, PTI reported.

Police conducting checks in Sirsa, Haryana. (Source: ANI)

9:00 pm: Ahead of the sentencing in the rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Haryana police has taken all the necessary measures to tackle any unwarranted situation that may arise after the sentence is announced in Rohtak on Monday. While the Army conducted flag march in Sirsa this evening, Haryana Police has arrested 900 people and filed 52 cases in the Panchkula violence that happened on Friday. 23 central troops are present in Rohtak to control the situation and all arrangements in and outside the jail are complete, according to Haryana police. Mobile and internet services will continue to remain suspended in the state till August 29 while curfew has been lifted from all other parts of Punjab and Haryana barring Sirsa, where section 144 still remains imposed. Meanwhile, Dera followers have vacated the Dera Headquarters. The court proceedings will begin tomorrow around 2:30 PM.

#Visuals of security from #Haryana‘s Rohtak ahead of Dera Chief #RamRahimSingh‘s sentencing at Sonaria jail tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/NtZdr5obeQ

— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2017

8:00 pm: Army conducts flag march in Haryana’s Sirsa

The Army is conducting a flag march in Sirsa, on the eve of the announcement of sentence to Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by a CBI court judge, ANI reported.

7:15 pm: Delhi prepares to tackle violence 

As a prepardness measure,the Delhi police is taking all safety measures to avoid any incidents of violence that may take place in the capital after the CBI court announces the sentence in the rape case. Delhi Police PRO informed the media that additional forces have been mobilised. He also said that monitoring intelligence input units and additional forces will be deployed in sensitive areas to avoid any mishap. He added that additional forces are being deployed in border areas and sensitive locations like bus stands and railway stations. Motorcycle patrolling is also being carried out by the Delhi Police, as reported by ANI.

Dera followers leave the Dera headquarters in Sirsa. (Source: ANI)

7:00 pm: Dera supporters are leaving Dera headquarters in Sirsa. More than 100 buses are taking out the supporters from the Dera headquarters amid tight security.

6:55 pm: Navdeep Singh Virk, IGP Rohtak Range said that special check points have been set up on all roads leading to Rohtak. He further said that the police won’t allow any gathering in Rohtak and that all trains and buses coming to Rohtak have been stopped or cancelled. Virk also informed that the Haryana Police, District Police and Special Paramilitary forces are at place and ready to tackle any unseen situation, as reported by ANI.

6:45 pm: Special arrangements have been made for the security of the CBI court judge who will order the sentence to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a fifteen year old rape case. IGP Rohtak Range NS Virk also informed that although the police has not received an official itinerary, proceedings will hopefully begin around 2.30 pm, ANI reported.

6:40 pm: Speaking to the media about tomorrow’s sentencing, IGP Rohtak Range said that a special CBI Court will be held inside premises of Sunaria Jail. He also informed that the judicial officer will reach Rohtak by air from Panchkula, ANI reported.

6:30 pm: “Maintaining Law and Order top priority”

Addressing the media, DGP Sandhu said that the top priority now is to ensure that law and order is maintained when the sentencing of convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief takes place in Rohtak tomorrow, PTI reported.

6:20 pm: Haryana police has registered an FIR under charges of sedition against Dera spokespersons Aditya Insan and Dhiman Insan in Panchkula police station on the basis of a news report, ANI quoted Haryana DGP BS Sandhu as saying.

6:10 pm: All arrangements in and outside the jail are complete :Mohammad Akil, Haryana ADGP (Law & Order) said on tomorrow’s sentencing, ANI reported.

6:00 pm: So far, there have been a total of 38 deaths in the violence, out of which 32 happened in Panchkula and 6 in Sirsa. All the six deceased in Sirsa have been identified, according to Haryana DGP BS Sandhu, ANI reported.

5:45  pm: Haryana DGP BS Sandhu also informed that after the Dera chief was convicted on Friday, Honeypreet Insan, his adopted daughter had expressed her desire to accompany him as an attendant stating that he is unwell. “Judge said that this is Jail Department and Govt’s prerogative;she didn’t get permission so she is not in jail,” added Sandhu. He also said that Honeypreet was in the chopper with court’s permission, ANI reported.

5:40 pm: The Haryana police has filed 52 cases and arrested 900 people in relation to the violence in Panchkula. It added that 76 vehicles were burnt in the violence.

5:35 pm: The police also informed the media that 23 central troops are present in Rohtak.

5:30 pm: Haryana DGP on sentencing: DGP Haryana said that the police is fully prepared to tackle any sort of violence and ruckus that may take place after the sentencing on Monday.

5: 25 pm: Court proceedings will be around 2:30 PM: Mohammad Akil, Haryana ADGP (Law and Order), ANI reported.

5:25 pm: ADGP Akil also added that curfew will be imposed only in Sirsa and assured that the sentencing will be peaceful. A separate media enclosure will also be set up in Rohtak jail.

5:20 pm: Addressing a Press Conference in Panchkula, Mohammad Akil, Haryana ADGP (Law and Order) said that no incidents of violence have been reported in last 24 hours barring one in Sirsa. He also informed that security is in place at Rohtak jail where the sentence will be announced and that the Army is on standby for the sentencing.

5:10 pm: The Polie has arrested five Dera Sacha Sauda followers for defying prohibitory orders which have been imposed in the area ahead of  Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s sentencing , PTI reported.

5:00 pm: Haryana Home Department has ordered suspension of mobile net, SMS, all dongle services till 11:30 AM on August 29.Voice calls on mobile networks not affected, ANI reported.

4:35 pm: Acting on the direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court,authorities have started identifying movable and immovable assets of the Dera Sacha Sauda at its headquarters in Sirsa, PTI quoted officials as saying.

4:30 pm: The broadband and internet lease lines in the premises of the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa have also been suspended till August 29, ANI reported.

4:25 pm: Mobile Internet services, which had been suspended for 72 hours in Haryana, ahead of the court verdict on August 25, will continue to remain suspended till Tuesday, officials said today, according to a PTI report. Meanwhile, services of bulk messages and mobile internet have also been suspended in Kaithal, ahead of sentencing of the Dera chief tomorrow, ANI reported.

4:15 pm: Section 144 will remain in effect in Ambala till further orders, ANI reported.

4:10 pm: In wake of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s sentencing in the rape case tomorrow, all schools, colleges, educational institutions in Haryana’s Panchkula, Rohtak, Kaithal & Ambala will remain closed on Monday, accroding to ANI.

4:00 pm: Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani has condemned the attack on media, damage to property, while appealing to everyone to maintain peace following the verdict, ANI reported.

3:30 pm: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has given an assurance that peace will be maintained in the violence-hit areas of the state. He also added that the curfew would continue and any decision on relaxation or lifting it would be taken only after reviewing the situation, ANI reported.

3:10 pm: A media person was beaten up and his vehicle vandalised near Dera Sacha Sauda’s headquarter in Sirsa earlier today, ANI reported.

3:05 pm: Speaking about media persons who had visited the Dera headquarters, Prabhjot Singh said that they had gone for an adventure by taking the back alleys where the forces were not present. “Jo Media-karmi subah gaye they wo adventure karne ke liye galiyon se hokar gaye they humare forces ke saamne kabhi nahi nikle,” he told ANI.

3:00 pm: Deputy Commissioner of Sirsa Prabhjot Singh has said that the number of followers inside Dera is dropping. The police is helping the followers in leaving back for their homes, ANI reported. Singh also said that there will no relaxation in the curfew tomorrow and it will be imposed throughout the day.

2.:50 pm: The 8 supporter who have been detained by the Panipat police raised anti-national slogans and threatened to disrupt peace during a gathering on August 20, according to DSP Panipat, ANI reported.

2:40 pm: Eight Dera Sacha Sauda followers were arrested in Panipat district of Haryana under sedition charges, ANI reported.

2:30 pm: Due to the tensions in region of Punjab ahead of the sentencing of Ram Rahim Singh in the rape case, the schools in the state will remain close on Monday.

2:25 pm:  Former Bollywood actress Twinkle Khanna, who has recently gained attention for her sarcastic commentaries on on-going issues and trends, wrote a blog on the on-going clashes in Punjab and Haryana following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. In the blog titled, “When the Love Charger ran out of battery”, Khanna wrote that the followers of the self-styled godman forgot humanity, even though they call themselves as “Insaan”. “Mayhem spread across parts of Punjab and Haryana as his followers, who call themselves Insan, forgot about their humanity and went about threatening to ‘wipe out India’.” Read More

2:10 pm: The total number of army columns which have been deployed in Haryana to keep a check on possible violence are as follows: Panchkula(12), Sirsa (12), Mansa (02), Malaut (02).

2:00 pm: Dera followers in Sirsa have invented their own monetary system for everyday transactions with the people, news agency PTI reported. Those who own shops use plastic ‘coins’ of Rs 10 and Rs 5 to tender change to customers. The names of the shops belonging to Dera supporters begin with ‘Sach’ and the coins are engraved with the words ‘Dhan Dhan Satguru Tera hi Asara, Dera Sacha Sauda Sirsa.’

1:35 pm: A day after the angry Dera supporters went on a rampage, Haryana Minister and BJP MLA from  Rohtak Manish Grover making a controversial statement said that the violence was “natural” and it was an expression of their “natural anger”.“When there is a crowd of 50,000-1 lakh and they have devotion towards Babaji, tab unmen ek natural gussa ata hai (they have a natural anger). Wo gussa aya (they got angry), it remained for an hour or two, but the government controlled that,” said Grover, adding that “this was natural”. Read More

1:25 pm: The BJP leadership, however, is unlikely to act against Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and denied any contemplation over his replacement. BJP general secretary in-charge of Haryana, Anil Jain,  made it clear while talking to The Sunday Express that “there is no such consideration”. The senior party leaders said the focus, at the moment, is on restoring peace, and preventing any untoward incident on Monday, when the court is set to pronounce its sentence. Read More

1:20 pm: After violence in parts of Punjab and Haryana following the conviction of Dera chief Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, Punjab and Haryana High Court slammed Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP government in the state of Haryana and accused it of “protecting the dera” for political reasons. The Opposition parties have also slammed Khattar and asked him to submit his resignation. On the other hand, Khattar himself lauded the efforts of his government for handling the situation “well”. According to sources, the top brass of the state received CM’s appreciation on Saturday for doing a “good job”. Read More

12:50 pm: The attack happened at around 10:20 am outside the dera, where the TV18 crew comprising of cameraman Sunil, reporter Dharamvir Sharma were working along with the driver of the vehicle, Inderjit. The curfew hours were relaxed at the time. The crew, who were in Swift Dzire, were chased by a group of men in a Swift car, who followed them till 6 km. The crew found a police barricade, and could not evade the men who were chasing them. The group of men inside the car came out, pulled out the crew members and beat them in front of police and paramilitaries at the barricade. Speaking to Express, Sharma said, “We were assaulted in front of security personnel.”

12:40 pm: Speaking to ANI, the news cameraman who was beaten up in Sirsa, Sunil Kumar said, “I was shooting when curfew was relaxed. People outside Dera chased and beat us up with stone and batons. They snatched my camera bag, Live-U and my vehicle.”

12:30 pm: A security footage was released by ANI which reportedly showed a building in Panchkula being vandalised allegedly by Dera founder supporters. We, at the moment, cannot confirm the credibility of the video. Watch video below:

#WATCH A building vandalized in Panchkula allegedly by #GurmeetRamRahimSingh supporters (25.8.17) #Haryana pic.twitter.com/t8AJiQezIt

— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2017

12:15 pm: According to PTI, the journalist who was beaten up on Sunday in Sirsa, was a 35-year old cameraman of a news channel, Sunil Kumar. He was allegedly beaten up by the followers of Ram Rahim Singh after he tried to enter the campus of the sect. According to the report, the group of followers damaged his camera and ran away with his car. Kumar has suffered injuries in his hand and leg and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Speaking to PTI, senior police official said that they have recovered the car from the culprits and a complaint was filed by the victim.

#SpotVisuals: Media person beaten up, vehicle vandalized in Haryana’s Sirsa near #DeraSachaSauda #GurmeetRamRahim pic.twitter.com/lcHOKyomHG

— ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2017

12:00 pm: After the violence in Panchkula and Sirsa following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, local residents from areas of Mohali came out of their houses to guard the gurudwaras located in these areas on Saturday. The residents also stood on guard at the security gates of their residential areas. Read More

11:50 am: As per a report in news agency ANI, Army carries out flag march in Sirsa district of Haryana.

Dera violence: Army carries out flag march in Sirsa. (Source: ANI)

11:45 am: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday said that he will go to South Punjab to check out the situation. Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said, “We are going towards southern Punjab,where #DeraSachaSauda supporters have greater hold, to check if everything is all right there.”

11:40 am: According to report from news agency PTI, the situation in curfew-hit parts of Haryana anad Punjab is calm but still tension seems to be in the air with the quantum of sentence up for announcement on Monday. Curfew was relaxed at some places in the morning including Sirsa district of Haryana, but it was later reimposed.

11:30 am: A bit of information about Deras or sects: Deras or sects are as old as Sikh faith itself. The followers of the sect comrpise of people belonging to every caste, but is mainly dominated by Dalits and other backward classes. Read More

11:20 am: Curfew has been reimposed in Sirsa, reports ANI. Earlier, reports from the district where the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda is located, said that a journalist was beaten up and his vehicle was vandalised.

11:10 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the violent clashes in Haryana in his Mann Ki Baat speech on Sunday. PM Modi said those committing violence will not be spared. “Violence in the name of faith will not be tolerated. Whether it is the faith based on community, political ideology, individual or tradition,” he added.

10:45 am: Many followers who were in Panchkula on the day of the judgment said they were told therw was going to be a satsang. Some of them were in Panchkula for “fun”. Several of them were not even aware of the fact that Dera Sacha Sauda founder was to be put on trial for rape. CLICK HERE to read stories of some of the victims of the violent clashes and what or who motivated them to visit Panchkula. 

10:36 am: According to reports, a journalist was beaten up in Sirsa district of Haryana, nearby the headquarters of Dera Sacha Sauda, on Sunday. We will give you more updates as and when we will get it.

10:30 am: The family of journalist Ram Chandrer Chhatarpati, who was allegedly killed by suspected dera followers in 2002 for his reports relating to the allegations of that the dera head was sexuyally exploiting women in his ashram, are hoping that they might receive justice after Ram Rahim was convicted in a rape case. We welcome the verdict. Not only to us, it has given hopes to the people of entire country that justice is possible even if the fight is against a powerful person like the dera chief. It has also given a strong message that the judiciary can’t be taken for granted,” Chhatrapati’s son Anshul, 35, said. The next hearing for the case will be heard on September 16. Read More

10:25 am: Doctors tending to the victims of the clashes told reporters that most of the injured victims had suffered pellet wounds. Speaking to media, nodal offier of the Trauma centre, Dr Sameer Agarwal said, “We noticed that the weapons were used properly. Nobody had injuries above the abdomen, or pellet wounds in the head or eyes.” Most of the patients had pellet wounds, he added. Read More

10:20 am: Following tension in Haryana and Punjab over conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the state government on Saturday imposed Section 144 (Unlawful Assembly) of the Criminal Procedure Code in west UP’s nine districts bordering the two states. Followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh belong to many of these districts. Read More

9:45 am: Haryana DGP BS Sandhu spoke to media on Sunday and said Dera Sacha Sauda’s chief Gurmeet Ram Ram Singh was taken in a police car. “Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s bodyguards wanted to take him in his car,but as he was convicted we said he will be taken in police car,” the DGP said. He further added that the bodyguards misbehaved but they were arrested by the police. “There was an argument and finally he was taken in the police vehicle. We arrested the bodyguards who misbehaved,” Sandhu said.

9.00 am: “I was not able to purchase essential items for my household since Thursday night due to imposition of curfew. I will buy sufficient stock of such items,” Surender Soni, a resident of Begu area near Dera headquarters said.