PANCHKULA (HARYANA): At least 28 people were killed and 250 injured today in widespread violence, arson and police firing triggered by the rape conviction of self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
Thousands of followers of Ram Rahim, who is the head of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, went on the rampage, setting to fire vehicles, buildings and railway stations soon after a special CBI court convicted him in a 2002 rape case.
Police responded by opening fire.
The unrest which began in Panchkula where the verdict was handed down, spread to other parts of Haryana and Punjab and even New Delhi where a bus and train were set on fire.
“Seventeen people are dead and at least 200 are injured,” said Vivek Bhadu, Chief Medical Officer at the civil hospital in Panchkula. Another seven deaths were recorded at PGIMER hospital in Chandigarh and four at Government Medical College in Chandigarh, officials said.
Bhadu said that most of the deaths were due to bullet injuries.
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