The Dera's sprawling headquarters include an ostentatious '7-star MSG resort' with replicas of Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, Kremlin and Disney World inside.
While the BJP alleged that the arrest of its leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga was part of Kejriwal's vendetta politics, the AAP rejected the charge and said that Bagga has been arrested for trying to stoke communal tension and violence in Punjba.
Ram Rahim did not talk with anyone and was seen roaming in the cell.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim, head of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, is no regular godman.
In-charges and managements of temples, mosques and gurudwaras in the city said preparations are underway to ensure all safety measures are in place as they throw open their doors for the devotees amid the pandemic.
'The protesters took out a march carrying black flags. They burnt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigy while raising slogans against the three farm laws'
A tormenting heatwave swept through North India on Sunday with the mercury crossing 49 degrees Celsius in pockets of Delhi, while the weather office forecast some relief Monday onwards.
Punjab Congress chief and former chief minister Amrinder Singh on Friday visited the Dera Sacha Sauda in Sirsa and met its chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to seek the support of the sect followers in favour of his party for the January 30 assembly polls.
The 51-year-old sect head is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Rohtak's Sunaria jail for raping two of his women followers.
"The Independent MLAs, who are going to be a part of the Khattar government, are digging their own political grave. They are selling the trust of people. People of Haryana will never forgive those who do so. People will thrash them with shoes in the time to come," said Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda.
According to farmer union leaders, peasants from various places including Sangrur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Bathinda districts were headed towards Singhu and Tikri borders.
Dera Sacha Sauda followers went on a rampage setting fire to vehicles, buildings and railway stations following the conviction of their head -- Gurmeet Ram Rahim -- in a rape case.
Bagga has been highly vocal against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on social media.
State govt said it is not averse to seeking Army's help to maintain law and order.
The Haryana Police closed the Ambala-Patiala highway after protesters gathered at the Shambhu border point with adjoining Punjab. The ruling Congress also held protests in Punjab, with the state unit chief Sunil Jakhar participating in one near the Shambhu border.
The biggest winner will be the BJP -- which has such a small presence that every incremental vote it gets can only increase its strength. But the man who will win despite losing everything will be Captain Amarinder Singh, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
Last September on the eve of the release of Gurmeet Ram Rahim's MSG: The Warrior Lion Heart, Rediff.com's Patcy N and Afsar Dayatar attended a huge concert in Sirsa, Haryana, to promote the film.
'Kudos to the SC & the CJI for standing up to the Govt on the gross misuse of this colonial law of sedition to silence dissent'
Haryana and Punjab remained on high alert with officials warning that violent miscreants will be shot at sight.
Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Yudhvir Singh said that preliminary reports indicated that at the function, someone spread a rumour about the presence of a snake that led to devotees running helter-skelter leading to the stampede.
Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail term after being convicted in two rape cases, has been charged along with doctors Pankaj Garg and M P Singh.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim also made an appeal to his followers to go back to their homes, a development which may come as a big relief to security personnel.
Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who ran a local daily 'Poora Sacch', was shot a few months after he published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Singh at the Dera headquarters in Sirsa.
'As long as there is misery, as long as people let themselves be exploited by rogues, this will continue.'
The situation in Sirsa remained tense but under control, according to police.
A cases was registered on November 26 under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing any public servant in discharge of public functions) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) among others at the Parao police station on a complaint from Head Constable Pardeep Kumar as hundreds of farmers assembled on the GT road near Ambala Cantt to proceed towards the national capital.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
The agitating farmers had earlier said they would picket toll plazas to press their demand for a repeal of the three new laws, which were voted through in Parliament in September amid strong protests by opposition parties.
Her name has been included in the same FIR in which other Dera functionaries Aditya Insan and Surinder Dhiman, among others, had been booked for allegedly inciting violence and arson, police said.
Justice Jagdeep Singh read out the verdict as soon as the special CBI Court began the hearing on the case on Friday.
A local court on Thursday extended till October 15 the interim bail given to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh in three cases of murder and sexual harassment
According to official sources in Chandigarh, the six persons, all belonging to Sikh community, received minor injuries on their legs after the shooting incident in Mallewala village, about 10 km from Sirsa, and were treated in a local hospital.
Rather than lose direction with the Karnal protest, farmers decided to focus more on UP to defeat the BJP in the forthcoming assembly elections there, reports Nitin Kumar.
'Pakistan was very mature in the way it dealt with the incident.' 'India too owned up to the accident.' 'The whole incident was resolved quite amicably.' 'Both countries should be proud of how they have handled this situation.'
Earlier, the CBI filed a "status report" in the court of Justices Adesh Kumar Goel and Ajay Lamba about the three cases in compliance of the high court's order.
The cases relate to the murder of a Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chatterpatti and Dera Manager Ranjit Singh besides other related cases.
"We are trying to simplify the draft statement which we will telephonically discuss with the Sikh leaders", he said.
He also took on the prime minister over unemployment, taunting Modi for a remark that selling 'pakodas' is a job worth doing.
The air force has moved its critical frontline assets including the Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighter aircraft fleet to advanced positions where they can fly in at a very short notice to carry out operations.
The incident took place near the venue of Congress leader Harminder Singh Jassi's roadshow.
