Modi slams Dera unrest on Mann Ki Baat, says violence won't be tolerated

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, in his Mann Ki Baat programme, slammed the violence caused by followers of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim, accused of raping two of his women followers in 2002, was on Friday, held guilty by the Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court of Panchkula.

The quantum of sentence will, however, be announced on August 28.

"No person or group taking law into their own hands will be spared," Modi said.

"Violence in the name of faith will not be tolerated. Whether it is the faith based on community, political ideology, individual or tradition," he said.

Thirty-six people lost their lives in Haryana after Dera Sacha Sauda followers went on a rampage following the conviction of their sect chief, the Punjab and Haryana High Court were informed on Saturday.

Baldev Raj Mahajan, Advocate General, Haryana, submitted in the court that there were 36 casualties in the state, of which twenty-eight were in Panchkula alone.

He said that one of the 36 dead had been identified while the remaining were still unidentified.

As many as 524 people were arrested in Panchkula, 24 vehicles seized, five pistols with 79 rounds and two rifles with 52 rounds were recovered, he said.

The rail services from Delhi to Katra via Ambala have been resumed and an approval has been granted to start bus services to certain places in Haryana, DGP BS Sandhu said on Saturday.

He said about 3,000 to 4,000 persons in the Dera Sacha Sauda centre in Sirsa are gradually leaving the place, adding no untoward incident has been reported during this movement.