Sikhs take their ire against Ram Rahim Singh to streets(Lead: Sikh protest)
23 Jun 2008, 1925 Hrs

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Karnal (Haryana)/Amritsar/Patiala, June 23 (ANI): Sikhs on Monday intensified their protests against controversial Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, and demanded his immediate arrest.

Sikhs have been protesting against the killing of a man in Mumbai allegedly by the security guards of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Protesters in Karnal (Haryana) shouted slogans denouncing Dera chief and burned his effigy.

"He should be arrested, he has misbehaved with the Sikh community and if he repeats something like this again we would not spare him," said Santnam Singh Khalsa, a protester.

Similar protests were witnessed in the Punjab's Amritsar where members of Shiromani Akali Dal took to streets with placards demanding arrest of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

"Already cases of rape and murder are filed against him (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh). His men have martyred a member of our community. He is responsible for the death of our man. He calls himself religious but he is involved in all types of forgeries. His name is Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, but he is neither Muslim nor Hindu nor a Sikh," said Gurpreet Singh Prince, a protester.

In Rajpura junction in Patiala district, protesters stalled railway services for about two hours demanding immediate action against Dera chief.

Maharashtra state police have arrested three persons in connection with the killing of the Sikh.

Relations between the followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect and Sikhs have been strained for nearly a year now, after the Dera chief sparked a huge uproar by the Sikhs a few months ago when Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh allegedly tried to imitate the dress and activities of the last Sikh guru-- Guru Gobind Singh.

The move had enraged Sikh community and he was forced to apologize.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh later tendered an apology, saying he had no intention of hurting the sentiments of the Sikhs, but the Sikh clerics had rejected his apology. (ANI)