Peace returns to Punjab, Haryana

Chandigarh, May 27 (PTI) Peace Wednesday returned to
northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana after two days of
violence following the killing of a sect leader in Vienna with
no untoward incident being reported from anywhere even as
curfew relaxations periods were extended in the arson-hit
areas of Punjab.

Rail and bus services were fully restored in Punjab but
passenger traffic was thin apparently due to apprehensions
among the people in the wake of the violence, officials said.

Curfew was relaxed for extended periods in Jalandhar,
the hub of Dera Sachkhand and worst-affected in the violence,
Phagwara, Hoshiarpur, Malout and five police station areas in
Ludhiana and no untoward incident was reported during that
time, they said.

Transport authorities resumed the bus services to most
of the destinations barring Jalandhar, Punjab state transport
director Mandeep Singh said here.

Life was by and large normal except in the curfew-bound
areas of the state, they said.

The officials said Ambala, Yamunanagar and Jagadhari in
neighbouring Haryana, which also witnessed disturbances,
remained peaceful.

Industrial units, shops, offices and banks opened this
morning after two days in the industrial town of Batala,
reports reaching here said.

Followers of Dera Sachkhand Ballan and some Dalit
organisations had indulged in large-scale violence after their
leader Sant Niranjan Dass was shot at and another Dera
functionary Sant Ramanand was killed in Vienna on Sunday
allegedly by a rival Sikh group.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal telephoned an
aide of Sant Niranjan Dass in Vienna today to inquire about
the condition the Dera chief, the officials said. "He is
stable and improving", the Chief Minister was told by the
aide, they said.

Badal and his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir
Singh Badal visited the Golden temple in Amritsar and offered
prayers for normalcy and peace in the state, they said.

The Chief Minister also organised an 'akhand path'
(recitation of Sikh religious scripture) at the Temple for the
well-being of the Dera chief, they said.

Meanwhile, the state government announced a compensation
of Rs five lakh each to the families of those killed in the
violence. PTI VJ
RKM