As many as 27 people were killed and more than 200 injured in Panchkula during the clashes that broke out soon after the pronouncement of the verdict in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by a special CBI court on Friday. Director General of Police B S Sandhu at a press conference late in the evening said all the Dera followers had been removed from the city. They could be streaming out in large numbers towards Zirakpur. Thirty teams of police were involved in the operation to lead them out of the city. Prohibitory orders are in force in Panchkula, and the barricades around the court and at entry and exit points continue. Traffic from Panchkula to Chandigarh and vice versa has been diverted through IT Park. “Narcotic substance, three rifles, three pistols and ammunition were recovered from the vehicles that arrived in Panchkula as part of motorcade of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh today,” Sandhu said. In a late-night development, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inspected the places damaged by the protesters in Panchkula. He also visited Civil Hospital and met the injured. Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Kumar was shunted out of his post in a late-night development. Six buildings, including the government offices of Hartron, Haryana Bhoomi Vikas Nigam, Bhartiya Life Insurance (Bhartiya Jeevan Beema Nigam) and State Consumer Forum located in Sector 2 and Sector 4 were damaged, and around 40 vehicles, including government and private, were torched. Hotel Pallavi and a building of HDFC Bank at Sector 16 were the two private buildings set on fire. Five fire brigade vehicles, one ambulance and six police vehicles were among the vehicles burnt. Four OB vans of electronic channels, school buses, and privately owned motorcycles and cars were also burnt. Dera followers, who had started dancing for joy at first thinking that Ram Rahim had been acquitted, turned riotous soon after hearing of his conviction at the roundabouts of Sector 5 and Sector 2, and also attacked a fuel station in Sector 5. Lala Ram and Sunder Nath, who witnessed the Dera followers while setting the vehicles on fire, said, “Dera followers were carrying fuel in plastic canes and they set the vehicles on fire after sprinkling fuel on these vehicles in Sector 5. Apparently, followers were already carrying fuel with them.” The majority of vehicles were torched in Sector 5, which were lined up in the parking area near Nik Bakers and near the government building of Hafed. Clashes broke out immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict around 2.45 pm and first phase of clashes between the followers and security police personnel was reported on the National Highway-22 at the side of Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector 3, where thousands of followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh were assembled. A senior police officer said, “All set procedures were adopted prior to opening fire on Dera followers. We made announcements, used tear gas, tried to control the protesters with lathicharge but when all failed, we opened fire.” Later, violence also broke out near the small roundabout of Sector 5 and Sector 2, near Hafed building, where all the media was gathered. At this point, the followers gathered from two sides — one from the dividing road of Sector 2 and Sector 4, and another from the side of Sector 5. Once the mob overpowered the security personnel, police and paramilitary personnel could be seen running away. It was only much later that they starting firing tear gas, bullets and used their canes to disperse the crowds. The Dera followers entered residential areas in Sector 4 and about 100 followers, who attempted to take shelter in several houses, were forcibly brought out from the houses by security personnel. Schools, colleges closed in Chandigarh After the violence broke out in Panchkula on Friday, the Chandigarh Administration announced that all schools and colleges (government, private, aided, unaided, technical) in the city would remain closed on August 26. On Friday, most of the petrol pumps and markets remained closed fearing violence. In Panchkula, all educational institutes were already closed till Monday. Traders in Panchkula decided to open their shops on Saturday but in the event of some disturbance, they would shut their shops.
