Will the Dera head be arrested?

New Delhi: The Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Singh faces arrest. The Punjab police has got the state government’s go ahead for his arrest.

But the Punjab Police will first have to get a nod from the Haryana police as Dera headquarters is situated at Sirsa.

Earlier a Bhathinda court had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him for hurting Sikh sentiments.

It had directed the police to get the state's sanction for arrest. The arrest warrant must be implemented by July 1 and failure to do so will require a fresh warrant.

The Punjab government's permission however, came hours after the Akal Takht rejected the Dera Chief's latest apology. The government said it was merely acting on the court directive.

Said Advocate General, H S Mattewal, “As per the spirit of order it was supposed to be done. That was the state government’s duty and we have done that.”

But the timing of the decision is significant. It came hours after the Sikh clergy rejected the Dera chief's latest apology.

Punjab had witnessed angry clashes between Sikhs and Dera supporters last month after the Dera chief appeared in an ad attired as the 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh.

Though the Dera chief had apologised twice since then, the Sikhs are in no mood to relent.

The Punjab Police has time till July 1 to take the Dera chief into custody. But the Dera headquarters is situated at Sirsa in Haryana.

So they will first need to approach the Haryana police. If the arrest doesn’t happen before July 1, Punjab police will have to approach the court for a fresh warrant.