The U.S. Embassy encourages U.S. citizens in New Delhi, Haryana and Punjab to exercise caution and track local news reporting regarding civil unrest related to the Friday verdict in the court case of the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda spiritual organization in Panchkula, Haryana. Local news reports at least 38 people were killed in civil unrest since Friday night in and around Panchkula. Property damage was reported in New Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. Sentencing in the case is expected Monday, August 28 at 2:30 PM. U.S. citizens should remain alert to local news reports relating to this situation. We have several reports of schools, public and private, in New Delhi, closing early today to avoid any problems.
We repeat our earlier guidance: Avoid large gatherings, follow the advice of the local authorities, monitor local media, and keep in touch with your travel company. Local road and rail travel may be significantly disrupted during this period. On August 25, 2017, a guilty verdict was issued in the court case of the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda spiritual organization; high alerts and a ban on unauthorized gatherings are in place in Panchkula, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Hissar (Haryana) and Zirakpur (Punjab) until August 30, due to the possibility of violence in these areas following the verdict.
For further information:
- See the State Department’s travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and India Country Specific Information at https://travel.state.gov.
- Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
- Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).
- Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
- The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi is located at Shantipath, Chanakyapuri 110021; telephone +91-11-2419-8000; fax +91-11-2419-0017. The Embassy’s Internet home page address is http://in.embassy.gov/.
