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Chandigarh braces for Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh verdict

CHANDIGARH: The Sector 16 cricket stadium in Chandigarh where the likes of Kapil Dev Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh perfected their skills to become international cricket stars will be converted into a temporary jail on August 25. It will be used to detain Dera Sacha Sauda followers who may come to the city in support of the preacher Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The Panchkula CBI court will pronounce verdict in a rape case against the dera chief on that day.The Union Territory administration on Tuesday announced that all Dera followers, who try to enter Chandigarh or who have already made their way into the city will be detained and kept at the stadium, which is spread over 15.32 acres. It has a capacity to hold more than 20,000 people. According to intelligence inputs, around 10 lakh Dera followers are expected to gather in the Tricity on the day of verdict.“We are expecting thousands of followers to try to sneak into the city. We can’t keep such a large number of people in a lock-up and this is why we chose the stadium,” said a senior police officer. The followers will be kept in the stadium till the situation gets normal in the region. “We will bring the situation under control on the same day,” added the officer.The stadium lost its prominence after The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium came up in Mohali 1995. It hosted its first one-day international (ODI) in January 1985 and its only Test match in 1990. A total of five ODIs were played here between 1985 and 2007.Harbhajan was selected for the Pace Bowlers’ Academy started by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which had its base in the Sector 16 stadium in the early 1990s. The academy was run by Dronacharya awardee coach Desh Prem Azad, who also trained Kapil. Yuvraj’s father Yograj Singh, who played one Test for India, also honed his skills here. Among other international players who trained at the Sector 16 stadium are Chetan Sharma, Dinesh Mongia and Vikram Rajvir (VRV) Singh.Police are also planning to use schools and other government buildings to detain the followers and already imposed Section 144 of CrPC. Newly-appointed Chandigarh SSP Nilamabri Vijay Jagdale said on Tuesday that police have prepared an elaborate plan to tackle the situation on August 25. More than 3,500 cops would be deployed in the city and all borders adjoining Punjab and Haryana would be sealed. Besides this, seven companies of paramilitary forces have also been requested from the Centre.UT police already cancelled the leaves of all cops till August 31 and ordered those on leave to join back with immediate effect. DIG OP Mishra with, SP Eish Singhal, SP (law and order) Roshan Lal and other police officials on Tuesday inspected the border areas of Chandigarh and directed the officers to tighten the vigil.Chandigarh police would also depute extra forces outside the houses of Governors and chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana a day before the verdict.