Dera chief arrest: tension in Sirsa

Tension on Thursday mounted in Sirsa with sect followers taking out a protest march in the wake of the Punjab Government's nod for the prosecution of its chief.

Tension on Thursday mounted in Sirsa town of Haryana, the Dera Sacha Sauda hub, with sect followers taking out a protest march in the wake of the Punjab Government's nod for the prosecution of its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

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While some followers took out a march near the Dera premises, the sect management action committee held a meeting in Sirsa to decide their strategy in the backdrop of developments pertaining to the Dera row.

"The situation in Sirsa is tense but adequate force has been deployed," official sources said.

"We are all geared up in the wake of the new developments. Adequate force has been deployed around the Dera and other sensitive points in the town," Sirsa Deputy Commissioner V Umashankar told PTI over phone.

He said the administration was monitoring the situation closely.

Asked if the Dera chief, accused of hurting the religious sentiments of Sikhs, had been provided the 'Z' plus security, he said, "he is yet to get that cover and is being guarded by state police".

On Wednesday the Punjab government, acting on a court directive, gave the formal go-ahead for the arrest and prosecution of the Dera Chief, who had invited the ire of the Sikh community for allegedly attiring like Guru Gobind Singh.