Chandigarh, July 31
The Haryana Police is breathing easy as no violent protest by the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda has greeted the CBI chargesheet filed yesterday, accusing the chief of the sect, Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, and others, in two cases of murder and rape of a woman disciple of the dera.

The government has decided to revert to the Centre 10 companies of paramilitary forces who arrived in the state today.

Police sources here said the paramilitary forces landed following a request by the state government to the Centre earlier in the wake of the conflict between the dera and the Sikhs.

By sheer coincidence, the paramilitary forces arrived at a time when the government was apprehending trouble from the dera followers on account of the chargesheet filed by CBI yesterday.

“But everything appears to be under control in Sirsa and its neighbourhood where the dera has a strong following. We have decided to revert the forces so that their services could be utilised for the coming Independence Day celebrations in Delhi”, the sources here said.

The sources, however, added that nine companies of central forces already deployed in Sirsa and its neighbouring areas would continue to remain where they are.

Personnel of the Haryana Armed Police and India Reserve Battalion, who were moved to Sirsa and neighbouring Fatehabad district in the wake of the Dera-Sikhs clash, would also be stationed in these two districts for some more time.

DGP of Haryana R S Dalal made repeated trips to Sirsa when the tension between the dera and the Sikh clergy was at its peak.

Today Dalal had a lengthy meeting here with the home secretary K S Bhoria on the situation arising out of the CBI chargesheet against the dera chief.

It was also feared that the rivals of the dera would ‘celebrate’ the charges framed by the CBI against Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh.

The Haryana Police top brass at Chandigarh, however, did not receive any intelligence about any such celebration till around 3 p.m. and were hoping that the day would pass off peacefully.

“Followers of the dera, who participated in a massive gathering at Chandigarh sometime back to protest against CBI investigation into the allegations against its chief, has apparently got mellowed by the battering it had received from the Sikh clergy”, a source here said.

While the state police has nothing to do with the CBI chargesheet, the police will come into picture if Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh declines to appear before the court. The court, in that case, will issue a non-bailable warrant against the accused.

Sirsa, July 31
After nearly five years’ long and tough struggle family members of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who was allegedly murdered by the dera men for publishing anonymous letter of Sadhvi levelling serious allegations of sexual exploitations against the dera chief, were feeling much relieved today as the CBI filed interim reports of its investigations.

Chhatrapati was shot at by two dera men on October 24, 2002 allegedly for publishing a letter of sadhvi carrying allegations of sexual exploitations against the dera chief in his newspapaper Poora Sach.He had sustained serious bullets injuries to which he succumbed on November 21, 2002.

“Things had become difficult after my father published a letter of the’Sadhvi’. Glued to the television along with his old mother, sister and younger brother for CBI reports, Anshul said “ I had approached the high court seeking the CBI inquiry into the case on February 10, 2003 on the ground that the local police was not doing fair investigation in the case following the influence of the dera.

“It’s a long and tough struggle. My father wrote against the dera chief when no one even dared to talk about the dera in the open. Despite threat to his life my father continued his mission to expose the dera, added Anshul.

Aridaman(19), a younger son of Chhatrapati who was just 14 when his father was murdered, said for the past five years we had been waiting for the day when we would see a little hope.

I also joined my brother to continue the mission of my father through our newspaper to help the people by highlighting their problems, he added.

Ambala, July 31
District magistrate Ambala R.P. Bharadwaj today imposed Section 144 of the IPC in Ambala district today in view of the Dera Sacha Sauda case.

The decision to impose Section 144 was taken considering likelihood of tension being caused within the revenue limits of Ambala district on account of conflict between the Sikh community and the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda.

Meanwhile, a large number of persons thronged the court complex today to find out details about the CBI interim report submitted to the special magistrate for CBI cases in Haryana.

Akali leaders and Dera Sacha Sauda followers were also present at the court complex.

Chandigarh, July 31
The appointment of Phool Chand Mullana as the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president has brought the state politics under a sharp focus of political observers, who said: “The crown comes with an unprecedented share of thorns.”

Mullana undoubtedly will have to spend many sleepless nights trying to set the Congress house in order. But in the end his success or failure will reflect Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s political acumen rather than that of the party president.

Hooda’s is believed to be instrumental in suggesting the name of Mullana to the party high command for the coveted post, but at the same time the chief minister is believed to have his trusted general Kuldeep Sharma appointed as the working president.

In the given political scenario, Mullana can only act on the path determined by the Chief Minister, with Sharma keeping a watchful eye.

The immediate task Mullana faces are those very issues that the Chief Minister would like to address, half way through his tenure.

The first priority of the Mullana-Hooda team obviously is to neutralise the Bhajan Lal camp, where Kuldeep Bishnoi has not only rebelled against the party leadership in the state, but has become a ready platform for all dissident activities.

There are anywhere between 5 to 7 dissident MLAs, whose loyalty to Hooda is suspect.

Though, not so much of a problem for Mullana-Hooda combine as the Bhajan Lal camp, but reports of differences between what is termed as the “Selja loyalists” within the Haryana Congress is an issue Mullana will have to deal with on priority.

At the grass roots level, the Congress is in a chaotic state. Caste, dissidence, disillusionment and a sense of alienation has percolated all the way down.

It is in fact after a long time that the Haryana Congress has got a full time party president and a working president.

Mullana’s predecessor Ram Parkash was only a working president and before that Bhajan Lal did not have his heart in party work owing to ill health.

At the same time Hooda has played the caste card, which is so integral to Haryana politics.

Himself a Jat, he now has a Scheduled Caste party president in Mullana and a Brahmin working president in Sharma.

It can be seen as a move to check the growing influence of the Bhaujan Samaj Party in Haryana after the recent success of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh.

Incidentally, the next parliamentary election, scheduled ahead of the state Assembly elections would prove to be a crucial test for Mullana-Hooda combine to prove their political acumen.

Mullana will have to start preparing for the parliamentary elections right way as the elections results will show what impact Mulana’s appointment has had on revival of the Congress.

Yamunanagar, July 31
A pall of gloom descended on Mandoli village here as soon as the Mumbai's TADA court sentenced Sanjay Dutt.

The judgement brought gloom for some senior citizens of the village who had spent time with Sunil Dutt, Nargis and Sanjay.

Silence descended on the village as soon as the six-year rigorous imprisonment was announced in Mumbai.

Villagers had been praying in the village's temple, mosque and gurdwara since morning for his acquittal.

However, there was lock on the Sanjay Dutt's house as his uncle Som Dutt and aunt were away to Mumbai.

Sanjay Dutt had last come to the village along with sister Priya Dutt (MP) and Kumar Gaurav with the ashes of his father Sunil Dutt on May 30, 2005. Satya Devi, a rakhi sister of Sunil Dutt, said she knew Sanjay from his childhood.

"He was just one-year old when I saw him for the first time", recalled Devi. She said that she had visited the Dutts in Mumbai several times. She said Sanjay had come to the village in 1973 to attend the funeral of his grandmother.

At that time he was attending Sanawar school in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. In 1982 Sanju had also come for the kirya ceremony of his mother Nargis.

Dr Subhash Chand said Sanjay was a nice guy and he was shocked to know that he had been sentenced. Temple priest Ram Anand recalled that Sunil Dutt used to spent lot of time in the temple.

"Sanjay is very dear to us. He is son of our Sunil Dutt", said the priest. Sunil Dutt had gifted idols of Radha Krishan to the temple. Like most of the other villagers the priest has faith that Sanjay would be acquitted by the Supreme Court.

A former sarpanch of the village Satnam Singh said Sanjay was a victim of larger conspiracy as 'he cannot do anything that was anti-national'.

Another former sarpanch Nawajish Ali looked disturbed after the judgment. "Sunil Dutt and Sanjay Dutt are our heroes", said Ali.