Dera chief sentencing: Schools in Shamli to remain closed tomorrow

MUZAFFARNAGAR: All schools in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, bordering Haryana, will remain closed in view of the sentencing of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, convicted in a rape case.
The Shamli district authorities have also sealed roads connecting the district with Haryana. According to district inspector of schools M S Siddiqi, all schools will remained close on August 28. Additional Director General of Police (Meerut Zone) Prashant Kumar told reporters here today that security had been beefed up in all nine districts of the zone -- Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Bullandshahr, Meerut and Gautam Budh Nagar.
Fifteen ashrams of the quasi-religious sect led by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh have been inspected.Prohibitory orders barring assembly more than five people were in force in these districts. The hearing on quantum of sentence against the 50-year- old self-styled godman, now lodged in Rohtak jail, will be held tomorrow.
After the Dera chief was convicted by a CBI court in Panchkula on August 25, his followers went on rampage setting fire to vehicles and railway stations, and damaging public and private properties. Thirty-six people were killed and more than 250 injured in violence in Panchkula and Sirsa.