Rohtak/Sunariya Khurd: The crackling sound made by wooden tables and chairs piled high on a truck is not what one usually gets to hear while travelling from Rohtak to Sunariya Khurd, a village that lies just 10 km away from the main city.
Around 10 wooden benches and a few tables have been carefully spaced out in the truck. Among them are a few iron benches. A man not older than 25 is crouched between all the furniture.
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“These are for the court proceeding slated to take place in the jail on Monday,” says Mahendra, who works at a local furniture rent shop.
CBI judge Jagdeep Singh, who convicted the self-styled godman for rape and criminal intimidation on Friday, will fly down to the Rohtak jail on Monday to pronounce the prison term and fine. A makeshift court room is being prepared inside the jail for him.
Outside the jail, roads leading to it have been enveloped by a security blanket.
Police have set up barricades 1 km away from the jail where Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been kept. (Photo: News18)
There are two roads which lead to the New District Jail, which now houses Ram Rahim. One from the side of Baba Mahantsangh College and the other from Sunariya village.
If one comes to the city from Delhi, they would encounter the sole sugarcane juice vendor on the highway. Satish has been working here for two years and is from Jind.
When asked where Sunaria jail is, he says with an unfazed expression, “Wohi na jahan Babaji ko raka hai? Seedhey mud jao, par koi jaa nahi payega (that place where the godman has been kept? Go straight and take a turn, but they won't allow anyone to enter).”
With heavy deployment of Haryana police at every nook and corner, media vehicles have been diverted from the village route. Security forces have set up barricades just over a kilometre away from the prison here. One of the police officials told News18 that the prison was at a distance of 1200 metres from the barricade where all the vehicles have been stopped.
Usually it takes about two and a half hours to reach Sunaria from Delhi, but with police patrolling every junction after Mundka, one gets easy access to the jail road only if travelling with proper documents.
Beyond the check point, the road leading to the jail is lined with fields on both sides. Throughout the stretch, one police official has been positioned under shrubs at a gap of 200 metres.
When one asks them about a possibility of an attack by Dera supporters or villagers, a calm reply satiates you. “Sab bus tainaat hai. Panchkula nahi hona chahiye dobara (we are alert, can't afford another Panchkula),” says an officer on the condition of anonymity.
It's afternoon now, and besides police vehicles and media professionals, only villagers wondering in bewilderment are the ones seen here.
After the Haryana police carried a confidential flag March here on Saturday night post 11.30 pm, another is slated to take place on Sunday evening just to make people realise that breaching security will be difficult this time.
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