Janjivan Bureau / Sirsa: Security forces left for Dera Sacha Sauda outside Sirsa this morning for search and sanitation operations. A source said the entire dera premises will be divided into five sectors for the purpose of searches, each under control of an SP-rank officer. The operation will continue uninterrupted till the search is complete.
Food packets for the security forces are being prepared in the Police Lines to be supplied in the dera during the search operation.
Media persons were stopped at Shah Satnam Singh Chowk, 7 km from the dera headquarters, and Internet services were expected to be shut down. No pictures are being allowed to come out, according to sources. Search team members have also not been allowed to carry their mobile phones inside.
Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh said 41 companies of paramilitary forces and four columns of the Army have been deployed.
Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted on two counts of rape of two female disciples in 1999 by a CBI Special Court in Panchkula on August 25. He was later sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and is currently lodged in the District Jail at Sunaria near Rohtak.
His conviction led to violence in Panchkula and Sirsa in Haryana, leaving 38 persons dead and 264 injured. Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from Delhi and several other places in Punjab.
Sanitisation of Dera headquarter in Sirsa begins amid heavy security force deployment
Security forces is scheduled to carry out santisation inside Dera Sacha Sauda headquarter at Satnaam Chowk in Sirsa on Friday. Heavy security force deployment was seen at the main entrance of headquarter on Friday morning.
The entire sanitisation process will be videographed and is being overseen by retired District and Sessions Judge, A K S Pawar, who was appointed as Court Commissioner by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday.
41 Paramilitary companies, 4 Army columns, Police of 4 districts, 1 SWAT team and 1 dog squad deployed for search of Dera headquarter in Sirsa.
As a precautionary measure, curfew was imposed in areas surrounding Dera Sacha Sauda headquarter.
Live updates from Dera headquarter in Sirsa:
# Latest visuals from Sirsa: Heavy security deployed, curfew imposed in vicinity of Dera Sacha Sauda HQ as search inside the premises continues
# Court commissioner AKS Pawar has reached Dera premises & search ops has begun. Situation is normal: Dy Director (Info & PR Dept) Satish Mehra
# Haryana: JCB machine entering Dera Sacha Sauda HQ in Sirsa; authorities have also called 10 blacksmiths inside the HQ as search operations continue
# Haryana: Bomb Squad is also accompanying officials and security personnel inside Dera Sacha Sauda HQ in Sirsa for search operation
# Dera has always followed law. Appeal followers to maintain peace: Vipassana Insan, Dera Spokesperson on search operations in Dera’s Sirsa HQ
# Sirsa: Security personnel & concerned officials entered premises of Dera Sacha Sauda HQ to conduct search as ordered by Punjab & Haryana HC
# Haryana: Curfew imposed in areas surrounding Dera Sacha Sauda HQ in Sirsa, there will be no relaxation till search operations continue
# Haryana: 41 Paramilitary companies, 4 Army columns, Police of 4 districts, 1 SWAT team & 1 dog squad deployed for search of Dera HQ in Sirsa
# Sirsa: Security deployed at Satnaam Chowk, main entrance to #DeraSachaSauda HQ. Security forces will conduct search operations inside Dera today
As per reports, security personnel and concerned officials has entered premises of Dera headquarter to conduct search as ordered by Punjab & Haryana High Court.
Bomb Squad has also accompanied officials and security personnel inside Dera Sacha Sauda headquarter.
JCB machine has also entered Dera headquarter in Sirsa. Authorities have also called 10 blacksmiths inside the HQ as search operations continue.
“Dera has always followed law. Appeal followers to maintain peace,” said Vipassana Insan, Dera Spokesperson on search operations in Dera’s Sirsa HQ.
“Court commissioner AKS Pawar has reached Dera premises and search operations has begun. The situation is normal as of now,” said Deputy Director (Info & PR Dept) Satish Mehra.
“We have formed a strategy and are hopeful that the sanitisation process will be conducted in a smooth manner. The Dera management too has expressed willingness to cooperate with the local administration and police during investigation,” Haryana Police DGP B S Sandhu said in Chandigarh on Thursday.
The premises of the Dera, whose chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was jailed in rape case, is spread over nearly 800 acres, and houses educational institutions, markets, hospital, stadium, recreational areas and houses.
Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had appointed retired District and Sessions Judge A K S Pawar as Court Commissioner to oversee the sanitisation process.
Senior officials of the police and civil administration will be part of the exercise.
The formalities enabling Pawar to oversee the mammoth sanitisation exercise were being completed, official sources said here.
DGP Sandhu said “as far as our arrangements are concerned, we are prepared (for sanitisation process)”.
He said that while the sanitisation process will be overseen by the Court Commissioner, Haryana police personnel, paramilitary forces, duty magistrates, executive magistrates and revenue officials will part of the exercise.
