DTC suspends inter-state, night and Delhi-Lahore bus services

Vehicles set alight by Dera Sacha Sauda sect members burn in the streets of in Panchkula, India, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. Deadly riots have broken out in a north Indian town after a court convicted a guru of raping two of his followers. Mobs also attacked journalists and set fire to government buildings and railway stations. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

New Delhi: The Delhi Transport Corporation has suspended its inter-state, night and the Delhi-Lahore bus services in wake of the violence after self-style godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim was convicted in a rape case today. A DTC official said the services have been suspended also because buses were being targeted in arson and violence in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. "The Delhi-Lahore bus service have been suspended because it passes through violence hit Haryana and Punjab," he said. DTC spokesperson Sanjay Saxena said the Delhi-Lahore bus services remained suspended today as well. DTC's night services-- wherein around 40 buses are run from 9 PM onwards--have also been suspended, he said. A decision to resume the services will be taken after normalcy is restored, another DTC official said A bus was torched allegedly by Gurmeet Ram Rahim's followers in northeast Delhi's Loni Chowk. A fire also engulfed two coaches of the Rewa Express stationed at the Anand Vihar Railway Station here. Railway officials said it was not immediately clear if it was a case of arson and that investigations were underway. A special CBI court in Panchkula in Haryana convicted the 50-year-old self-styled godman in the 2002 rape case, triggering widespread violence and arson by his supporters in Punjab and Haryana. At least 30 people were killed and more than 250 injured in the violence that left a trail of destruction and vandalism. New Delhi: The Delhi Transport Corporation has suspended its inter-state, night and the Delhi-Lahore bus services in wake of the violence after self-style godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim was convicted in a rape case today. A DTC official said the services have been suspended also because buses were being targeted in arson and violence in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. "The Delhi-Lahore bus service have been suspended because it passes through violence hit Haryana and Punjab," he said. DTC spokesperson Sanjay Saxena said the Delhi-Lahore bus services remained suspended today as well. DTC's night services-- wherein around 40 buses are run from 9 PM onwards--have also been suspended, he said. A decision to resume the services will be taken after normalcy is restored, another DTC official said A bus was torched allegedly by Gurmeet Ram Rahim's followers in northeast Delhi's Loni Chowk. A fire also engulfed two coaches of the Rewa Express stationed at the Anand Vihar Railway Station here. Railway officials said it was not immediately clear if it was a case of arson and that investigations were underway. A special CBI court in Panchkula in Haryana convicted the 50-year-old self-styled godman in the 2002 rape case, triggering widespread violence and arson by his supporters in Punjab and Haryana. At least 30 people were killed and more than 250 injured in the violence that left a trail of destruction and vandalism.