Amid the tension in the states of Punjab and Haryana, the Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was pronounced guilty by the special CBI court in Panchkula. He was immediately taken into custody and the quantum of sentence will be announced on August 28. The Dera chief now faces a prospect of 7-10 years of jail time. The special CBI court gave its verdict secretly inside the court room where only 7 people were allowed, as per multiple TV reports. Ram Rahim Singh had arrived in Panchkula to present himself before a special CBI court in the 15-year old sexual exploitation case against him today even as his followers gathered outside. Gurmeet, had left the sect headquarters in Sirsa by road this morning and reached Panchkula in the afternoon, PTI quoted officials as saying. Police and paramilitary forces were deployed in great numbers in Panchkula ahead of the verdict.

The sexual exploitation case was registered against the Dera chief in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged sexual exploitation of two ‘sadhvis’ (female followers) by Ram Rahim Singh. Around 53 companies of the paramilitary forces and 50,000 personnel of the Haryana Police have been deployed. In addition, the Army was also been alerted.

Section 144 has been imposed across Chandigarh as more than 50,000 of Ram Rahim’s followers congregated at Naam Charcha Ghar in Panchkula area. Ahead of the judgment, as many as 74 trains were cancelled today in view of law and order situation in Haryana, reported PTI.

“We will not move out from Panchkula till the time we have pitaji’s (Ram Rahim) ‘darshan’. We will wait till the court verdict,” said an aged follower who had come from Bathinda in Punjab. Haryana, Punjab and Union Territory Chandigarh went into lockdown since yesterday, shutting mobile Internet services, trains, schools, colleges and buses.