NEW DELHI, Aug 28 (Xinhua) -- Self-styled Indian godman and spiritual guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, whose followers went on rampage after he was convicted of rape Friday, is expected to receive Monday a criminal punishment ranging between seven years in prison to life imprisonment.
Many fear more riots may occur if the guru is sentenced to imprisonment.
The judge who convicted Singh will hold a special hearing in a prison in Rohtak, where he has been lodged since Friday, at around 2:30 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) on Monday to determine the punishment.
Senior Haryana state official Ram Niwas said "elaborate" security arrangements are in place and Singh's followers were being prevented from reaching Rohtak.
"Our priority is Monday's sentencing at Rohtak. We are fully prepared and expect court proceedings will be conducted peacefully. We will take strict action and not tolerate any violence or untoward incident. Army has been kept on standby," Haryana Police Chief B. S. Sandhu told reporters.
The local court trying the case said in the verdict Friday that Singh was guilty of raping his two women followers in 2002. His followers went on rampage burning vehicles, train coaches, petrol stations, etc after the conviction.
Singh has denied the charges and spokespersons for his sect say that they will challenge the verdict in a higher court.
Sandhu said Sunday that 38 people were killed, 264 were injured and 926 were arrested for participating in the violence. Till now, 247 of the injured people have left hospitals in Panchkula.
In a crackdown since Friday, 130 congregation centers of the sect were searched and over 30 congregation centers have been sealed across the northern state of Haryana, Sandhu said.
Security restrictions have been lifted in other places except for Sirsa, where the 1,000-acre (405-hectare) headquarters of Singh is based.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the large-scale rioting and warned against further riots.
"I want to assure my countrymen that people who take the law into their own hands and are on the path of violent suppression -- whether it is a person or a group -- neither this country nor government will tolerate it," Modi said in his monthly radio address on Sunday.
Analysts assume the violence after Friday's verdict was stirred up by the 50-year-old guru and his religious sect locally called Dera Sacha Sauda, which has millions of followers in Punjab and Haryana states.
The sect claims to be a "social welfare and spiritual organization."
Over the years, Singh has presented himself as a social reformer by organizing cleanliness drives and blood donation camps. In 2010, the sect organized a mass marriage where more than 1,000 followers "volunteered" to marry sex workers.
"For years, chief ministers of both Punjab and Haryana, along with several other politicians of all parties, have vied for Singh's support for his huge follower base, just for vote bank politics. Singh also exploited them rightly," said Basab Gupta, a political analyst in Delhi.
In the 2014 national elections, Singh forged a close relationship with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after supporting it.
The Haryana government is criticized for grossly underestimating the risk posed by Singh's followers and failing to stop the vandalism.
Critics say the BJP of the Haryana state's coverup for Singh leads to Friday's violence.
Punjab and Haryana state high courts criticized Saturday that the BJP provides political asylum for Singh to get his followers' votes.
