Curfew was imposed in Jalandhar district as tension prevailed after the news of the Vienna attack on the Dera Sachkhand head spread here on Sunday.

Confirming the curfew imposition, Inspector General of Police, Jalandhar zone, Sanjiv Kalra said the situation was precarious as there were roadblocks everywhere and several incidents of arson were reported. SSP R K Jaiswal said extra force was being called to control the situation.

Violence was reported from many parts of the city as soon as the news broke. While three trucks and three buses were set on fire in Buta Mandi and near Focal Point area, an SBI ATM was burnt down near Ravidas Chowk. Traffic was blocked in Phagwara, and at Pathankot Chowk a large number of dera followers assembled, attacked various vehicles and beat up a man very badly.

The Shatabadi Express was also stopped at Jalandhar city railway station.

Nearly a dozen luxury vehicles were burnt near Prithvi’s Planet, a well-known restaurant, in GTB Nagar, and all the main chowks of the city were blocked.

Photo journalist of The Indian Express Sarabjit Singh had a narrow escape when he was attacked by the irate mob.

It was all chaos when thousands of dera followers assembled and staged a dharna when it was learnt that dera head Sant Niranjan Dass and his second-in-command Sant Ramanand had suffered gunshots in a Ravidass Temple in Vienna. The dera has a large number of followers from Ad-Dharmi community in Doaba, including many big political leaders.

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