Schools to stay shut in Punjab, Haryana on Monday

Chandigarh: In view of the tension prevailing in the region over the conviction and upcoming sentencing of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a rape case, schools and colleges in Haryana and parts of Punjab will remain closed on Monday, senior officials said.

However, in Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, schools and colleges will function normally. “All educational institutions, including government and private schools, colleges and other institutions in the entire state, will remain closed tomorrow,” Haryana’s additional chief secretary, home, Ram Niwas, said in an official release on Sunday.

Haryana is on a high alert after violence in Panchkula and Sirsa on Friday left 38 people dead and over 250 injured following the conviction of the Ram Rahim Singh. The quantum of sentence in the case will be pronounced by the court at Rohtak on Monday.

As a precautionary measure, the Punjab government also ordered closure of all educational institutions, including government and private schools and colleges besides technical institutions, in the 13 sensitive Malwa belt districts.

The decision was taken by chief minister Amarinder Singh in view of the sensitivity of the matter, an official spokesperson said here on Sunday. In Chandigarh, all schools, colleges and other educational institutions, which had remained shut for the past few days, will function normally from August 28, an official release said.

Meanwhile, the Haryana police said on Sunday that it might conduct searches at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa after the sentencing of Ram Rahim on Monday. Over 100 congregation centres of the Dera have been “santitised” with the recovery of a large number of weapons, the police said.

“As far as Sirsa (Dera) is concerned, people (Dera followers) are coming out of it (Dera premises). We have also been facilitating them to come out (of Dera premises) since yesterday,” Haryana DGP B.S. Sandhu told reporters here.

“After the sentence is pronounced tomorrow, we will try to carry out search at the Dera. But as of now, there is no such plan,” Mr Sandhu said on Sunday. The Haryana government has launched a crackdown on congregation centres of the Dera where the police suspect that weapons and other items could have been hidden.