Moga (Punjab): There was heavy police presence in this Punjab town and the nearby Dhauleke village on Tuesday, a day after clashes between followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect and a radical Sikh group left over a dozen people injured.
Followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda, which has its headquarter in Haryana's Sirsa town, are demanding action against members of the Ek Noor Khalsa Fauj, a radical Sikh organisation, for allegedly disrupting their religious function at Dhauleke village on Sunday. They also accused the group of burning the effigy of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
Members of both groups clashed at Dhauleke village on Monday, injuring over a dozen people and some policemen. Agitators also set a Punjab roadways bus on fire and damaged some private vehicles in Moga, around 250 km from the state capital Chandigarh.
The situation is still tense as hundreds of members of both groups are camping at Dhauleke village.
"Yesterday evening we held a meeting with the members of both parties and appealed to them to maintain the law and order situation. We have booked 18 Dera followers and three Sikhs for rioting. An assistant sub-inspector has been suspended as he failed to tackle the situation," said a police official here.
"The situation is still tense but we have deployed enough police personnel to handle any kind of emergency."
IANS
First Published: Tuesday, March 08, 2011, 12:03