Curfew relaxed in Patiala, Bathinda, Ferozepur, Kaithal

Chandigarh, August 26

A day after large-scale violence broke out over the conviction of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, authorities in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday relaxed curfew in some towns to enable the residents to buy essential and eatable items.

In Punjab, curfew was relaxed in Patiala, Bathinda and Ferozepur towns for four hours, while in Haryana it was relaxed in Kaithal town.

In Haryana’s Fatehabad town, the Army was deployed to assist the paramilitary and police personnel in maintaining law and order.

The situation in Haryana’s Sirsa, the headquarters of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, 260 km from here, was tense as over one lakh followers were still camping there.

Just been briefed by DGP, situation peaceful, curfew lifted in 3 districts, relaxed in all others this morning. State on alert for 48 hrs.

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) August 26, 2017

Grateful to people of Punjab for maintaining peace. All steps being taken to ensure law & order not disturbed at any cost.

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) August 26, 2017

“The Army has been asking the followers to vacate the Dera premises voluntarily. Over 2,000 followers have left but still nearly one lakh people are stationed there,” a senior police official told IANS here.

To control the situation, the Punjab government on Friday imposed curfew in six districts.

They were Patiala, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Mansa, Faridkot, Bathinda and two sub-divisions Malout in Muktsar Sahib and Abohar in Fazilka district.

No incident was reported from the remaining 13 districts of Punjab, the government said.

It said 50 minor incidents were reported on Friday in nine districts after a CBI special court held the Dera chief guilty of rape and sexual exploitation of two women disciples in 2002.

However, no loss of life or firing incident occurred in Punjab. IANS