At Ram Rahim's Home Base, Sirsa, Skyline On Fire, Army Called In

Sirsa: Thousands of people, near impossible to control, clashed with the police in Sirsa, the town in Haryana where self-styled spiritual guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has a campus that sprawls at least 700 acres. The violence began within minutes of Ram Rahim, 50, was convicted of raping two women followers by a court in Panchkula, nearly 250 kilometres away in Haryana. At least one person is reported dead.

The army was called in for help as the police and paramilitary troops found themselves no comparison for the sheer mass of Ram Rahim's devotees who heaved onto the main road near his ashram. Barbed wire and rocks were used to reinforce police barricades. The sect's members pushed right through them.
 "No one is above the law. Anybody who breaks it will be dealt with sternly. I appeal to all of you to maintain peace," said Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar.

Two Dera followers have been killed and seven others injured following the violence in Sirsa. Several buildings in Sirsa were on fire at dusk and a thick layer of smoke hung in the air, mirroring the skyline of Panchkula, where 28 people were killed and 250 injured as per latest reports in riots caused by Ram Rahim's fans.
 This morning, many of them stood on the road, weeping or shouting support as he left the ashram in a convoy of 200 cars headed for Panchkula. Despite a week to prepare for the verdict, the administration failed to turn Panchkula into a restricted-entry zone even though it was clear that thousands of members of the Dera Sacha Sauda would gather there in a show of solidarity with their chief or for his "darshan" - an in-person look at him.
 At midnight, more than 1.5 lakh followers were sleeping in the open in Panchkula. Ram Rahim appealed in a video message to them to disperse. They said for once, they would not follow his order.

At the campus in Sisra, women armed themselves with sticks standing guard at the main entrance. Tens of thousands of other followers keep a night-long vigil, praying for Ram Rahim's acquittal.
 But the court in Panchkula accepted the CBI's contention that in 2002, Ram Rahim had sexually exploited two women followers. He was flown in a helicopter reportedly to a makeshift jail in Rohtak and will be sentenced on Monday.

Speaking before his conviction, supporters who had gathered in Panchkula credited him with turning their lives around, with some saying his organisation had helped them kick an addiction to alcohol.

"I've been part of the Dera movement for two decades and in that time I have not touched a drop," said Gajendere Singh, a recovering alcoholic who said he was aged around 60.

"Before joining, people did not pay me much attention. But after, I had a support network."