Cops: Preparations complete for Sirsa Dera sanitisation

Chandigarh: All necessary arrangements have been made for carrying out "sanitisation" of the sprawling Dera Sacha Sauda sect headquarters at Sirsa, a top Haryana police officer said here, a day after the high court gave permission for the exercise.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had appointed retired District and Sessions Judge A K S Pawar as Court Commissioner to oversee the sanitisation process.

Senior officials of the police and civil administration will be part of the exercise.

"The Court Commissioner is expected to reach Sirsa soon," DGP B S Sandhu said.

The formalities enabling Pawar to oversee the mammoth sanitisation exercise were being completed, official sources said here.

DGP Sandhu said "as far as our arrangements are concerned, we are prepared (for sanitisation process)".

He said that while the sanitisation process will be overseen by the Court Commissioner, Haryana police personnel, paramilitary forces, duty magistrates, executive magistrates and revenue officials will part of the exercise.

"Anti-sabotage team, dog squad, bomb disposal squad will also be pressed into service to carry out the sanitisation of Dera Sacha Sauda at Sirsa, which is spread over a huge area.

The process will be started soon," Sandhu told reporters in Panchkula, near here.

Notably, the Dera premises in Sirsa is spread over nearly 800 acres, and houses educational institutions, markets, hospital, stadium and houses.

The police and the Dera management have maintained that licensed weapons have been deposited by most Dera followers at Sirsa with the police authorities.

Asked if there were still some licence holders who have not deposited their weapons at Sirsa with the police, DGP said, "The number of such persons is very less."

To another related query, he said, "these persons are missing. We have registered cases against them and started the process to cancel licences of their weapons".

He voiced confidence that the sanitisation process will be carried out in a "smooth manner" and there was no cause for concern.