Curfew imposed in Sirsa after 12 injured in Dera-Sikh clash

Curfew was imposed in the town on Saturday after arson during a communal clash between Sikhs and followers of Dera Sacha Sauda. 

The 12 people injured in the violence here in the evening include Sant Gurmeet Singh Trilokiwala, head of another local dera and member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), whose condition is reported to be critical.

 

The district administration has called 15 units of paramilitary force to maintain law and order. All the injured are under treatment in a government hospital.

The town was on the edge since November 19, when a man named Jasvir Singh was injured in a Sikh-dera clash at Jiwan Nagar locality here. Sukhwinder Singh Khalsa, president of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Sabha, had called for shutdown over the matter here on Saturday but deferred the plan for a fortnight after speaking with the district administration.

Khalsa had asked the government to withdraw the Z-plus security of Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and restrict his followers from guarding his every route. On Saturday, the violence broke out when suspected dera men attacked Sikhs returning from a gurdwara and torched seven vehicles.

A heavy police force was deployed and curfew imposed but both group remained on the streets to confront each other.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : LINK