State funeral for Dera Sach Khand leader Rama Nand

Thousands attended the cremation of slain Dera Sach Khand leader Sant Rama Nand Dass at Ballan village after his body was brought from Vienna on Thursday.

A contingent of the Punjab police reversed its weapons as the state government extended a state funeral to the sect leader in the campus of the sect headquarters in Ballan.

Draped in saffron, the leader’s body was kept in a glass coffin in an open area for followers to pay their respects. The state government had sent a chartered aircraft to Vienna to bring back his body. Sant Rama Nand Dass, 57, was killed and Sant Niranjan Dass was injured in an attack inside a Vienna gurdwara on May 24. Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal and leaders of other parties were present at the cremation. UP CM Mayawati flew to Jalandhar for the cremation.