Search and sanitisation ops underway in Dera Sacha Sauda HQ

Sirsa, Sep 8: Amid tight security, search and sanitisation operations inside the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters began here under the supervision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court-appointed Court Commissioner Anil Kumar Panwar this morning. Mr Panwar is a retired District and Sessions Court Judge and has been appointed by the High Court to monitor the search and sanitisation operation. Curfew imposed in and around the Dera headquarters will continue till the sanitisation process is complete. The sprawling Dera is spread in more than 700 acres of land. The operations are expected to last more than a week. As many as 41 companies of paramilitary forces and four columns of Army have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order. Media and public have been barred from entering the Dera campus. Search teams have also not been allowed to carry their mobile phones inside. According to an official spokesperson, the search teams have recovered some cash and seized some computers and hard discs from the Dera premises. Two rooms of the Dera have also been sealed, the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the Haryana government has suspended all mobile internet, SMS and dongle services till Sunday in Sirsa district to curb the spread of any kind of rumors following the sanitisation process. All these services of telecom providers would remain suspended in the district except voice calls. Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted in rape cases by a special CBI court in Panchkula on August 25 and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on August 28. In the aftermath violence, 40 people died and hundreds were injured in Haryana and Punjab. UNI