4 June : The mortal remains of Sant Ramanand, deputy head of the Sant Sarvan Dass Dera Sachkhand, Ballan was consigned to flames on Thursday at Ballan village with full state honours. Sant Surinder Dass Bawa, a disciple of the slain Sant lit the pyre amid the chanting of religious hymns. Sant Ramanand was killed in an armed attack in a Vienna Gurudwara on 24th May.
Braving the intense summer heat, thousands of followers of Dera Sachkhand, prominent political leaders and leaders of various sects and religions from across the state and even from abroad bid a tearful adieu to the Sant, whose assassination had sparked violence in several towns of Punjab.
No untoward incident was reported from any part of the state as the security forces intensified patrolling in the sensitive towns of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Phagwara and parts of Ludhiana, where violence broke out after news of the Vienna attack reached Punjab.
Army columns were also standing by a certain spots to assist the civil administration in case of any emergency.
The body of the Sant was flown Thursday morning from Delhi to Dera Sachkhand in an helicopter arranged by the Punjab government. A helipad was constructed for the landing of the helicopter at Ballan, the headquarters of the Dera.
Chief Parliamentary Secretary Avinash Chander and Mr D S Guru, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister accompanied the dead body first from Vienna to Delhi in a chartered plane sent by the state government and then from Delhi to Ballan.
The injured Sant Niranjan Dass, who heads the sect also accompanied the body from Vienna to Ballan. Sant Niranjan Dass was injured in the shooting incident in Vienna.
Sant Niranjan Dass remained confined to a room in the Satsang Bhawan of the Dera all through the cremation. No one was allowed to meet him.