Security beefed up in Shamli ahead of Dera chief's sentencing

The security has been tightened in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, bordering Haryana, in view of the sentencing of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, police said today.

The Shamli district authorities had sealed roads connecting the district with Haryana.

The police are checking all vehicles on Panipat-Kairana highway and Karnal-Meerut highway before letting them enter or leave the district, SP Ajaypal Sharma said.

Additional forces have also been deployed in the district to prevent any untoward incident, he said.
Police are keeping an eye on activities of followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, which has two Ashrams in Shamli district, he said.

Also all the schools in the district are closed today, an official said.

Prohibitory orders barring assembly more than five people were in force in the district.

The hearing on quantum of sentence against the 50-year- old self-styled godman, now lodged in Rohtak jail, will be held today.

After the Dera chief was convicted by a CBI court in Panchkula on August 25, his followers went on rampage setting fire to vehicles and railway stations, and damaging public and private properties. Thirty-eight people were killed and more than 250 injured in violence in Panchkula and Sirsa.