
At least 29 people have been killed and 200 injured in violent protests in northern India after the leader of a religious cult was found guilty of raping two of his followers.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, 50, known as 'the guru in bling' due to his flamboyant outfits, has been found guilty of two sexual assaults at the headquarters of his Dera Sacha Sauda group in the northern town of Sirsa.

Police reportedly opened fire and used water cannons in an attempt to disperse the 100,000-strong crowd, as they threw stones, torched vehicles and set fire to government buildings in the town of Panchkula, near Chandigarh.

In 2015, Singh, who has 50million followers, allegedly convinced up to 400 men to cut off their testicles to be closer to God.

Scroll down for video

Rapist: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, 50, known as 'the guru in bling', has been found guilty of raping two female devotees

Conviction: A follower of Singh pleads for his safety after being hit with a stick during clashes between the controversial guru's followers and security forces

Rioting: Supporters of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect surround and attack a journalist, seen in foreground wearing a blue dark t-shirt, in Panchkula, during the violence that followed the 'guru' being found guilty of rape

Destruction: A man lifts a motorbike in an area which has been vandalized by Dera Sacha Sauda sect members

Murky past: Singh has previously been accused of convincing 400 followers to undergo castration at his ashram so they could get closer to 'god' and stood trial for conspiracy over the murder of a journalist in 2002

The Sydney Herald reported the claim after those involved were speaking about what allegedly happened in 2000 for the first time.

The violence on Friday has left at least 29 dead and more than 200 injured, according to VK Bansal, chief medical officer at the state-run Panchkula Civil Hospital.

Mobs of several tens of thousands rampaged in response, setting fire to government buildings, attacking railway stations, petrol stations and television vans in towns across the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, witnesses said.

'We tried to prevent the unrest in every possible way, but the protesters were totally out of control,' Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal told Reuters.

'All the injured are getting the best treatment in government hospitals,' he said.

Dozens of cars were burning in Panchkula town while a bloodied body lay in the middle of a road. About 500 army soldiers were deployed to restore order.

As news of Singh's conviction spread protests also erupted in New Delhi and in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan. Supporters of Singh set fire to some buses and two empty train coaches in the capital.

Nearly 1,000 members of his Sacha Sauda group were detained.

Police deputy superintendent Isham Singh said many areas, including Panchkula city, were now under curfew and the situation under control.

'The situation is tense but under control. The crowds have been dispersed at most places,' he told AFP by phone.

'The crowd outside the court was asked to vacate but they turned violent leading to police action.'

Mob rule: Followers of Singh's Dera Sacha Sauda sect throw stones at security forces during violent clashes with police, which has left 29 people dead and some 200 injured

Horrifying: The dead body of a follower of Indian religious leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh lays on the street next to burning vehicles following clashes between his supporters and security forces,

Clashed: Supporters of Singh throw stones at security forces as they are sprayed with a water cannon

Local photographer Sat Singh, based in Panchkula, said: 'The streets are now empty and quiet with the curfew.

'But the situation is going bad to worse. Many people in Sirsa have been injured in police firing. The army has carried out flag march - a kind of martial law.

'People are within their homes but the supporters of convicted Guru piled onto the roads to protest. The tension is still high.'

The special court had announced a guilty verdict after hearing closing arguments in the 15-year-old case against the guru, who calls himself Saint Dr Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan.

Ram Rahim Singh - who had denied raping the two women at his ashram in 2002 - was taken into custody and is to be held in a jail in the nearby town of Rohtak in Haryana state until his sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutors said.

Taking action: Policemen patrol past a burned out and upturned car vehicle vandalized by Dera Sacha Sauda sect members

Don't hit me: A female sect member appears to be holding up her hands in a peace offering to paramilitary forces

Smoke rising: Burning vehicles have been left behind after mobs ran through these streets in Panchkula

Mobs set fire to government buildings and attacked police and TV journalists, smashing the windscreens of media vans and breaking broadcast equipment.

Smoke billows after supporters of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect set vehicles on fire near in Panchkula, India

Singh has a vast following in the northern state of Haryana, where he runs a religious movement called Dera Sacha Sauda, which claims to have millions of devotees around the world.

Thousands of them had descended on Panchkula by Thursday evening, setting up camp outside the courthouse.

Troops and riot police had been deployed ahead of the verdict, but violence broke out as news of his conviction spread among the gathered devotees.

'The court convicted Baba Ram Rahim Singh on rape charges,' prosecutor Harinder Pal Singh Verma told AFP by telephone after the closed hearing.

The rape case was brought against Singh after an anonymous letter was sent to then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002 accusing him of repeatedly raping the sender and several other women in the sect.

A judge asked the Central Bureau of Investigations to look into the accusations, but it took years to trace the alleged victims and it was not until 2007 that two women came forward and filed charges.

Calm before the storm: Supporters of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect squat in a public park near an Indian court in Panchkula ahead of the verdict

Lockdown: More than 15,000 paramilitary troops and police officers were deployed in the town of Panchkula

Devoted: Dera Sacha Sauda claims to have millions of followers around the world, but is based in the northern state of Haryana

Protest: Followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh gather on the roadside in Sirsa, where his organization is based, ahead of a court's verdict in a rape case against him

India has been rocked by numerous scandals involving popular ascetics claiming to possess mystical powers, and Singh is no stranger to controversy.

In 2015 he was accused of encouraging 400 followers to undergo castration at his ashram so they could get closer to god.

He also stood trial for conspiracy over the murder of a journalist in 2002.

The man himself describes his following as a social welfare and spiritual organisation, while others refer to it as a religious sect.

Speaking before his conviction, supporters who had gathered in Panchkula credited him with turning their lives around, with some saying his organisation had helped them kick an addiction to alcohol.

'I've been part of the Dera movement for two decades and in that time I have not touched a drop,' said Gajendere Singh, a recovering alcoholic who said he was aged around 60.

'Before joining, people did not pay me much attention. But after, I had a support network.'

All that is gold: The 50-year-old is known for his flamboyant and 'blinged up' costumes

Accusations: The rape allegations first emerged in 2002, but it has taken 15 years for the 'guru' to be convicted of the assaults

Making enemies: Singh's work has angered mainstream religious leaders in India, particularly Sikhs who say he insults and belittles their faith

Singh commands a following that he claims is in the millions, many of them elderly men and women in the countryside, drawn by his social welfare programmes such as medical camps and disaster relief.

Singh's work has angered mainstream religious leaders in India, particularly Sikhs who say he insults and belittles their faith.

There were protests in the Sikh-dominated state of Punjab over Singh's 2015 appearance in a film entitled 'MSG: The Messenger of God', which showed him performing miracles, preaching to thousands and beating up gangsters while singing and dancing.

Singh was driven from his home town to the court in a vast convoy that Indian media said was made up of over 100 vehicles.

Television images showed devotees lining the streets, many of them sobbing uncontrollably.

Roads leading to the court have been barricaded off and three stadiums set aside as makeshift prisons in case of trouble after the verdict.