Ram Rahim Singh's Followers Trigger Mayhem In Haryana After Court Convicts Dera Sacha Sauda Chief

Punjab and Haryana High court had come down heavily on the Haryana government for its apparent inability to maintain law and order in the state ahead of the CBI court verdict. Photo: AFP

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: Police fired tear gas, water cannons and eventually bullets in the air. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: With police apparently helpless to stop the violence, the emboldened protesters set fire to vehicles and buildings, including two railway stations in Punjab. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: In Panchkula town where the CBI court is located, the sect followers set afire and damaged more than 100 vehicles after the court verdict. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: Within two hours of his conviction by a CBI court in Panchkula, the violence had left a trail of burnt vehicles, buildings and railway stations in Punjab and Haryana. Hospitals were overwhelmed with the stream of injured people being brought in. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: The followers, mostly young men, squatted on the road just in front of the cavalcade. However, the police immediately evicted them following which the Dera chief continued his onward journey to Panchkula. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: Six columns of Army, comprising a total of 500 to 600 soldiers were deployed in Panchkula, a suburb of Chandigarh (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: As the Dera head left the sect headquarters at Sirsa, some of the followers standing on the roadside turned hysterical and held up the cavalcade for a few minutes. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict:: A special CBI court in Panchkula today convicted flamboyant self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a 2002 rape case, triggering widespread violence and arson by his supporters in Punjab and Haryana. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: At least 28 people were killed and more than 250 injured in the violence that left a trail of destruction and vandalism, a Haryana government official said. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: At least three OB vans of private television channels were damaged. Two vans were overturned by a mob. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: Ram Rahim reached the court in Panchkula, a satellite town of Chandigarh, more than five hours after he left the sect headquarters in Sirsa by road at about 9 am. Sirsa is about 260 kms from Chandigarh. Army personnel and central paramilitary forces took positions around the CBI court complex in Panchkula, even as the area close to the complex was sealed. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: Six columns of Army, comprising a total of 500 to 600 soldiers were deployed in Panchkula, a suburb of Chandigarh (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: In Sangrur district, miscreants set a tehsil office in Lehragaga town on fire. In Lambi town in Muktsar district, masked men lobbed petrol bombs on a telephone exchange and fired in the air to trigger panic. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: A bus was torched in northeast Delhi's Loni Chowk also, alleged by Dera supporters. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: Curfew has been imposed in five Punjab towns - Mansa, Bathinda, Patiala, Fazilka and Ferozepore, following large-scale violence. (AP Photo)

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim verdict: The uneasy calm in Sirsa and Panchkula exploded into violence after the verdict, as Ram Rahim's followers went berserk, attacking media vehicles and personnel. (AP Photo)