With the special CBI court in Panchkula likely to pronounce verdict on Friday in the case of murder of journalist Ramchander Chhatrapati, in which Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is an accused, the Haryana police have stepped up security in Sirsa and Rohtak districts to maintain law and order.
Police deployment
Sirsa Superintendent of Police (SP) Arun told The Hindu over telephone that around 1,000 police personnel have been deployed across the city and 14 check posts set up on roads leading to the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters on the outskirts in order to prevent any untoward incident.
Section 144
Mr. Arun said the situation was under control and 14 gazetted officers were appointed to oversee security arrangements in the district.
Meanwhile, prohibitory orders have been clamped in Sirsa under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to prevent assembly of four or more persons.
In Rohtak, the area within a radius of 1 km around Sunaria Jail, where Gurmeet is lodged since his conviction in two rape cases in August 2017, has been sanitised and 10 police pickets have been set up on roads leading to the prison.
Rohtak SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said mounted police and patrolling units have been deployed around the jail, and Station House Officers and Deputy Superintendents of Police directed to keep a tight vigil in their respective areas. He said reserve police force was also available to deal with any emergency in the district.
The Dera chief has been exempted from personal appearance in court and will be produced through videoconferencing. The court had on January 8 accepted the Haryana government’s plea in this regard.
In its application before the court, the State government had pleaded that Gurmeet should not be asked to be present personally on Friday keeping in view the law and order situation that may emerge. Instead, the plea added, he should be allowed to appear through videoconferencing.
The case pertains to the murder of Chhatrapati in 2002 after he published an anonymous letter in his evening newspaper Poora Sach by a female Dera follower who accused Gurmeet of rape. Chhatrapati was shot five times outside his house. He succumbed to his injuries a few days later.
The incident led to large-scale protests by journalists across Haryana and protests were held against the Dera. Journalists also held a mahapanchayat in this regard on November 16, 2002, and decided to boycott the Dera.
