Chandigarh, India - One person was killed in police firing when followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda Wednesday went on a rampage in Mansa district of Punjab, damaging vehicles and government buses to protest police inaction on a sect member’s murder, an official said.
Lilly Kumar, a sect member, was shot dead Tuesday near the Dera Sacha Sauda’s office in Alampur Mandra village in Mansa district, around 200 km from here.
Hundreds of sect supporters marched carrying the body of Kumar. They later damaged police vehicles and state-run buses. Police opened fire to control the mob.
According to police sources, 24-year-old Amritpal Jakhal, a sect follower, died in the firing.
Police, however, claimed that situation is under control.
“Police have arrested three people in connection with the yesterday’s (Tuesday’s) killing. We have deployed heavy security in the area to maintain the law and order and situation is under control,” said Manminder Singh, senior superintendent of police, Mansa.
The sect, led by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, has thousands of followers in Punjab, and is headquartered at Sirsa town in Haryana, 280 km from here.