Besides extending the ban on mobile data services in till Tuesday, the Punjab government on Saturday said it has beefed up security at vital installations and is ready to enforce curfew again in sensitive areas of the state on Monday, if needed, in view of the upcoming sentencing of Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Addressing a Press conference, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said 19 potential trouble makers had been taken into preventive custody and the crackdown would continue ahead of the sentencing. The main leaders of DSS, who are likely to instigate followers, are either being taken into confidence or arrested, he said.

Speaking to reporters on the latest law and order situation in the state in the wake of Friday’s violence in Panchkula after Ram Rahim was declared guilty by a CBI court, the CM said there had been no trouble anywhere since last night.

Capt Amarinder, however, expressed grief at the death of seven people from Punjab in Panchkula’s violence. Forty-five of the total 250-odd people injured in that violence were from Punjab, he further disclosed, citing data received from Haryana so far.

Captain Amarinder disclosed that curfew had been lifted in three districts (Muktsar, Fairdkot and Sangrur) of the state and relaxed in the other areas where it was imposed yesterday. He, however, said there would be no let-up in security in the state till after the sentencing by the court in the Ram Rahim case.

The CM said his government would not accept any nonsense or allow anyone to spread bad blood in Punjab even on Monday and this was his promise to the state and its people. Captain Amarinder revealed that police officers had visited all the 98 Naam Sacha Ghars of the DSS in the state and recovered lathis, pipes and rods, axes and petrol bombs.

The CM, who earlier held a review meeting with top administrative and police officials to assess the law and order situation, disclosed that 39 criminal cases had been registered against perpetrators of violence in the state. Around 52 minor incidents had been reported from the state, with no loss of life or extensive damage anywhere following the announcement of the verdict yesterday.

Reacting to Haryana’s charge that Punjab did not stop vehicles carrying Dera followers from reaching Panchkula, the CM said the Haryana government, at no point in time, approached the Punjab government on this issue. Responding to another question, Captain Amarinder said there had been no contact between him and the chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, though the Punjab DGP had been in regular touch with his counterpart there.