Shoot at sight orders in Rohtak ahead of Ram Rahim sentencing

Rohtak (Haryana), Aug 28 (IANS) Shoot at sight orders were in place in Haryana's Rohtak on Monday where Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is to be sentenced in a 2002 rape case.

Rohtak Inspector General of Police Navdeep Singh Virk said measures were in place to ensure no crowd gathered near the jail.

He said if someone tries to disrupt peace, or fire at the police, they would be fired at.

"We are watching the situation. If anything untoward happens, action will be taken. Everyone knows Section 144 (of the CrPC) is in place. If anyone tries to break the law, if they fire at us, or try to enter the site despite the curfew, they will be shot at," Virk said.

He said over 100 Dera members have been taken into preventive custody to stop them from organising a crowd.

"We have arrested Dera members who could have organised protests. Around 100 people have been detained and 10 deras have been closed," he said.

"The focus is on not letting the crowds gather. We also took help from police in neighbouring districts so that they don't allow crowds to come in," he said.

Haryana has been tense for the past three days after the conviction of the Dera chief on Friday.

The Home Ministry on Monday termed the situation in the state "still tense but under control".

There was proper vigil in place in Panchkula, which bore the brunt after the August 25 verdict, and at Sirsa - the headquarters of the sect, as well as other parts of Punjab and Haryana, the Ministry said.

The total death toll was put at "35 - with 17 in Panchkula, six in Sirsa and 12 in Chandigarh" by the Ministry. The number of injured stands at 204, the Ministry said.

Around 2.30 p.m., a special CBI court's judge will begin hearing arguments on the quantum of punishment of the Dera chief in the rape case, inside the District Jail at Sunaria near Rohtak where Ram Rahim was lodged since Friday.