Punjab on guard as Sant's cremation takes place on Thursday

Tight security arrangements have been put in place in view of cremation of Dera Sach Khand leader Sant Rama Nand at Ballan in Jalandhar on Thursday.

He was killed in an attack in Vienna recently.

Additional forces had been deployed to maintain law and order as thousands of followers of the Dera from various parts of Punjab and other states were expected to attend the cremation at Ballan, about 15 km from Jalandhar.

Punjab's additional director general of Police JP Virdi said on Wednesday that security forces had been deployed in strength and added the situation was completely peaceful in areas that witnessed violence after the Sant's killing.

Routes of several state-run and private buses plying on Ludhiana-Jalandhar, Jalandhar-Pathankot and Jalandhar-Amritsar routes would be diverted on Thursday so that there are no traffic jams and blockades in and around Jalandhar, he said.

A special chartered plane arranged by the Punjab government to bring the body of Sant is expected to reach New Delhi on Wednesday night or early on Thursday morning.

Dera Sach Khand Ballan chief Niranjan Dass, who was injured in the incident, will also return from the same flight.

Meanwhile, situation in violence-hit areas of Punjab remained normal on Wednesday, even as night curfew was still in force as a precautionary measure at Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana, Malout and Hoshiarpur.