Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said no compensation would be granted for victims from the state who are found to have violated the law during the Panchkula violence in the wake of the court verdict against self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
The chief minister stated this while interacting with mediapersons during his tour of nearly a dozen areas in some of the sensitive districts in Malwa region of Punjab, which witnessed sporadic incidents of violence in the wake of the court verdict against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief on Friday.
The chief minister said it was for the Centre to take any decision on ordering a probe into the collapse of law and order that led to the anarchy and violence in Panchkula and other parts of Haryana, Punjab and Delhi on Friday.
He said the main cause of the trouble was allowing such a large crowd to gather in Panchkula ahead of the court verdict.
Amarinder welcomed the prime minister's strong condemnation of the violence and expressed hope that the central government would punish the criminals who indulged in violence, with an iron hand.
"Nobody can or should be allowed to disturb the law and order of any state or region in the country," he added.
He said his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar had made no attempt to get in touch with him even though the Punjab intelligence was regularly providing their counterparts in the neighbouring state with all inputs.
He said while his government was preparing a list of the damage caused to public and private property, there would be no compensation for those who broke the law and indulged in violence.
"The list of damaged property would be submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court for recovery of compensation from the Dera, as per the court's directions," he said.
The chief minister said 45 preventive arrests have been made so far under sections 107/151 in the seven districts of the sensitive Bathinda zone, which was considered the base of Dera supporters in Punjab.
A total of 23 FIRs have been registered, with 30 arrests made, he said, adding that 62 petrol bombs had been seized along with a 12-bore gun with a dozen cartridges and a .22 revolver with 28 cartridges.
The chief minister expressed satisfaction that the situation in the region was under control and there was no sign of panic among the people.
Day curfew in the area had been lifted and the district administration would again review the situation at night, he said.
Besides Mansa, where he started his tour from Kotli Kalan, the chief minister toured the areas of Maur, Bhatinda, Balluana (Bathinda Rural), Gidderbaha and Malout, where he met the people and security forces.
In Bathinda Rural, he visited the Balluana railway station damaged in the violence and spoke to the staff members, who gave him a first-hand account of the events on Friday.
They described how armed men broke into the railway offices and damaged windows, and computers, before making an abortive attempt to set the station afire.
The chief minister said there had been no fresh incident of violence in Punjab after Friday's minor cases of attack on property and vehicles by Dera supporters.
"The situation in the state was completely stable," he said.
He directed the district administration and police to ensure that there is no disruption of peace in the region and all steps are taken to maintain law and order.
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