Operation to search Dera Sacha Sauda HQ in Sirsa under way

Sirsa, September 8 : Security forces left for Dera Sacha Sauda outside Sirsa this morning for search and sanitation operations. A source said the entire dera premises will be divided into five sectors for the purpose of searches, each under control of an SP-rank officer. The operation will continue uninterrupted till the search is complete. Food packets for the security forces are being prepared in the Police Lines to be supplied in the dera during the search operation.
Media persons were stopped at Shah Satnam Singh Chowk, 7 km from the dera headquarters, and Internet services were expected to be shut down. No pictures are being allowed to come out, according to sources. Search team members have also not been allowed to carry their mobile phones inside.All roads leading to the dera have been sealed. The search is being monitored by AKS Pawar, Court Commissioner appointed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh said 41 companies of paramilitary forces and four columns of the Army have been deployed. Meanwhile, an official spokesperson confirmed that the search teams have seized some computers and hard discs from the Dera premises. He said some cash has also been recovered, though he didn’t specify the total amount. Two rooms of the Dera have also been sealed, the spokesperson said. Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted on two counts of rape of two female disciples in 1999 by a CBI Special Court in Panchkula on August 25. He was later sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and is currently lodged in the District Jail at Sunaria near Rohtak. His conviction led to violence in Panchkula and Sirsa in Haryana, leaving 38 persons dead and 264 injured. Isolated incidents of violence were also reported from Delhi and several other places in Punjab.