Attack on Dera chief: Haryana, Punjab on high alert

Chandigarh: Haryana and Punjab have been put on high alert after the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Baba Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim escaped unhurt following a bomb blast aimed at his cavalcade in Karnal district on Saturday.

Following the blast thousands of Dera followers blocked the National Highway No. 1 at different places.

"The state has been put on high alert and we are monitoring the situation closely," Haryana's Home Secretary, KS Bhoria said.

He said the government was keeping a close watch on the Dera followers, who had gathered in strength and had blocked the national highway No. 1, near Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala after the incident.

Though, the Dera chief, who was returning along with his followers after a appearing in a court in Ambala, escaped unhurt, 11 persons were injured in the incident.

There was complete chaos on the highway as traffic had virtually come to a stand-still, with followers squatting on the roads. Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the highway and commuters travelling to Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi had been put to great inconvenience.

Heavy contingents of police, which were moved to the affected spots, were facing great difficulty in dispersing the followers, who were protesting against the attack and were shouting slogans, police sources said.

They said that the followers had at some places started their 'satsangs' along side the highway.

The situation in Sirsa, the sect's headquarters was peaceful, Sirsa's Deputy Commissioner V Umashankar said.

Police had to fire in the air after a cane charge did not work on Dera followers who allegedly brickbatted the Deputy Commissioner's vehicle while protesting the attack.

Hundreds of followers of the Dera squatted on National Highway No. 1 after the attack, leading to long queues of trucks, buses and other vehicles.

A police team sent to the area to break the demonstration used batons but the protestors refused to budge and threw stones at them instead, officials said.

They said Dera followers also attacked the DC’s vehicle but the official escaped unhurt.

The protestors finally dispersed when the police fired a couple of rounds in the air as warning shots, they said.