Chandigarh:
There was an uneasy calm in various parts of Haryana and Punjab on Sunday as authorities stepped up security measures following Saturday's protests by Dera Sacha Sauda supporters.
No fresh incidents of violence have been reported so far and the administration is constantly monitoring the situation.
Reserve police force, Punjab Police and paramilitary forces attached to Punjab police have been deployed across Punjab since Saturday.
In Haryana, six companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in addition to Haryana police forces in the violence-hit areas, including Fatehabad, Sirsa and Ambala, police officials said.
The situation in the affected areas in Punjab, including Moga, Bhatinda and Sangrur districts, was tense but under control, they said.
Resenting the filing of a murder case against the Dera Sacha Sauda head by the CBI, the sect supporters went on a rampage on Saturday setting ablaze four trains and around 37 vehicles, including 27 buses, and vandalised property in several places in Punjab and Haryana.
Tension ran high in many towns in the two neighbouring states as police were put on high alert and Haryana requisitioned 1,500 para-military personnel to deal with the situation.
Patrolling was intensified in troubled-torn towns as Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Punjab's Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal appealed for calm.
The protesters set afire a compartment each of the Ferozepur-Ludhiana Sutlej Express, the Narwana-Kurukshetra train and two local trains after asking the passengers to disembark, a railway spokesman said.
They also vandalised railway property at Tapa, Moga and Kalaiyat in Punjab, he said.
The mobs torched and damaged 37 vehicles, 27 of them buses, including an air-conditioned one, in Bathinda, Mansa, Talwandi Sabo, Bhagapurana and other places in Punjab and at Kaithal, Sirsa and Fatehabad in Haryana.
In Moga, the protesters tried to set ablaze the District Administration Complex, housing among others the offices of the Deputy Commissioner and the SSP, prompting police to fire in the air to scatter them.
Over 200 villagers, with some of them firing shots, attacked a police station at Bhagapurana. They fled after the reinforcement reached there from Moga.
A post office was set on fire at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda by some persons who also forced closure of shops and commercial establishments at Mansa in Punjab.
A report from Fatehabad said two empty buses, parked in a workshop of the Haryana Roadways, and a bill collection centre of the power department were also set afire.
The demonstrators blocked traffic on the Ambala-Hissar highway at Kaithal and on the Hissar-Delhi road near Hansi by by squatting on the roads.
Some persons set on fire a Delhi-bound Haryana Roadways bus near Mirzapur village in Hissar district after asking the commuters to alight.
Dera's chief spokesman Aditya Insaan said the sect followers were not behind the violence which erupted in Punjab and Haryana after the registration of the fresh case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Last week, the CBI had booked Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for the murder of sect Manager Faqir Chand in 1991.
Besides the sect head, four others were booked by the CBI in the case.
The sect head also faces three other cases including one of sexual exploitation and two of murder of another sect Manager and a Sirsa-based journalist.
Authorities have imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in several places in Punjab and Haryana which have been affected by the violence.
Leaves of police personnel posted in sensitive areas in Haryana has been cancelled till further orders, official sources said.
At least 40 people were rounded up in the two states for rioting, they said.
Haryana Director General of Police Ranjiv Dalal said two companies of CRPF have reached Ambala while two companies each of BSF arrived at Fatehabad and Sirsa tonight.
A few more companies of BSF would reach Haryana from Rajasthan tomorrow, he said.
Reacting to the several incidents of violence, Dalal said they appeared to be "pre-planned conspiracy to disturbed the peace in the state".
The violence also spilled over to Rajasthan, where followers of the sect set two buses on fire in Sriganganar and Hanumangarh districts after asking the passengers to disembark.
Following the incidents, security have been deployed in areas where Dera supporters have their offices and centres.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda have also issued strict instructions to SPs concerned to deal anti-social elements spreading the violence with a firm hand.
Railways have cancelled and suspended several trains passing through and originating from the two states for passenger safety and to avoid damage to rail property.
The move follows after miscreants damaged and set on fire several trains in the two states.
A report from Ambala in Haryana said Dukheri railway station on the Ambala-Saharanpur railway section was damaged by protesters late on Saturday night.
The cancelled trains include those passing through the Ambala-Saharanpur section, the Ferozpur-Mumbai Punjab Mail besides several others.
A decision on running the trains will be taken after assessing the situation at regular intervals, official sources said.
Several incidents of buses being set on fire were also reported. The damaged buses included one belonging to the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking at Mithapur village, about 10 km from Ambala.
A report from Fatehabad in Haryana said the Tohana railway station was set on fire by protesters.
Also at Phattu railway station, passengers of the Delhi-Bathinda Kisan Express protested after railway authorities suspended the train for onward journey to Bathinda in Punjab.
The passengers demanded that the train should proceed to the destination, but the railway authorities decided to send the train back to Hisar. (With PTI input)