Inter-state transport services to resume only after normalcy returns

NEW DELHI: Commuters on Saturday faced major trouble, after Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) cancelled its services to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, while Northern Railways cancelled trains from Delhi to Rohtak.

The decision comes in the face multiple incidents of arson and violence, following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram-Rahim Singh in a rape case by a Haryana court on Friday.

A DTC official said that the decision to cancel services was taken on Friday night and it would remain till further orders. The DTC plies more than 200 trips per day from Delhi to Bahadurgarh, Balabhgarh, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gurugram.

"We have cancelled our services to Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, including the ones to Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Bahadurgarh," the official said.

Around 50 buses, which ply 200 trips a day have been cancelled, the official added.

In four hours, following the verdict on Friday afternoon, around 12 buses were set ablaze in the capital by miscreants till prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC were imposed around 8.30 pm. 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.

Meanwhile, book lovers might be in for some disappointment at the Delhi Book Fair this year that began here on Saturday, thanks to the violence. Many book stall owners at the venue also expressed concern over how things would pan out after the Dera chief's quantum of punishment is announced on August 28.

The organisers also showed dampened spirits with ITPO desks yet to provide the handouts for exhibitors list and programme schedule of the nine day-long event.