Clashes over 'rape guru' kill 30 in Panchkula, India

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The Indian army was deployed in Haryana state's Panchkula city after tens of thousands of followers of guru Ram Rahim Singh went on an angry rampage, attacking television vans and setting fire to dozens of private vehicles.

The Security forces were put on high alert to ensure there was no repeat of the violence that erupted Friday afternoon, minutes after a special court pronounced the self-styled guru guilty of raping two of his followers.

Indian police patrol on a road in Amritsar on August 26, 2017. /AFP Photo

Mobile phone services were disrupted in some parts of Haryana and neighboring Punjab state, where authorities had earlier imposed a curfew following the clashes.

Although the curfew was lifted in Panchkula Saturday, restrictions on public assembly remained in place.

Haryana police chief B.S. Sandhu told AFP Saturday at least 30 people had died with the toll likely to rise as some of the wounded were being treated for serious head injuries.

An Indian security forces member looks at burning vehicles set alight by rioting followers of a religious leader convicted of rape in Panchkula, India on August 25, 2017. /AFP Photo

"The toll within the state is at least 30 dead and around 200 injured including about 50 police and security personnel," said Sandhu.

"Some of the injured didn't come to the hospitals fearing that they could face police action or arrests for involvement in the violence," he said.

Official sources told AFP earlier that at least 32 people had died, with most of the fatalities caused by gun shots.

This file photo taken on September 8, 2015 shows Indian chief of the religious sect Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh at a news conference to launch the score for his film 'MSG-2 The Messenger' in Mumbai. /AFP Photo

The 50-year-old Singh is known as the "guru in bling" for his penchant for bejeweled costumes and claims to have more than 50 million loyal followers worldwide.

The rape case was brought against him after an anonymous letter was sent to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002 accusing him of repeatedly raping the sender and several other women in the sect.

A judge asked the Central Bureau of Investigations to look into the accusations, but it took years to trace the alleged victims and it was not until 2007 that two women came forward and filed charges.

Source(s): AFP