On 25 August 2017, widespread rioting in northern India broke out after Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the religious leader of Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS), was convicted of rape.

[9] Beginning 23 August 2017, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh were put under a security lockdown as 200,000 supporters of Ram Rahim amassed in Panchkula ahead of the verdict.

[11] The authorities had suspended internet services for 48 hours and Section 144 of the Indian penal code (prohibiting an assembly of more than four people) was imposed in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan (Ram Rahim's birth-village) in advance of the verdict announcement.

[11] On 24 August 2017 Ahead of Verdict Sect Head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan appealed to his Followers to maintain Peace.

On 25 August 2017, around 15:00 (IST), a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Panchkula, Haryana, delivered its verdict in a 2002 sexual assault case of two sadhvis (nuns) of Dera Sacha Sauda.

The court found Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief — known as "the guru of bling"[16]  — guilty of rape.

Before the verdict, Ram Rahim appealed to his followers to remain calm, after having made the 250 km (156 mi) journey from the sect's headquarters in Sirsa to Panchkula in a 100-vehicle convoy.

[9][30] Police fired tear gas, water cannons and live ammunition while trying to disperse the mobs in Panchkula and near DSS ashram in Sirsa.

[18] According to Haryana's Director General of Police, some 10,000 followers of Ram Rahim remained holed up in the DSS headquarters, where security forces were kept on "standby".

[31] By around 9:55 pm (local time), curfew had been imposed in 8 districts of Punjab namely — Mansa, Bathinda, Firozpur, Faridkot, Fazilka, Patiala, Barnala and Sangrur.

Until 10:00 pm (local time), Section 144 had been imposed in 9 districts of Uttar Pradesh — Meerut, Saharanpur, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Noida, Bulandshahar, Bagpat and Hapur.

Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) suspended its bus services to the National Capital Region (NCR) due to incidents of arson.

[5] According to the Advocate General of Punjab 19 rioters had been arrested including Gurdev Singh, a state-level office bearer of Dera Sacha Sauda.

A special hearing was held in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for monitoring the law and order situation in the region and other related issues following the riots.

Followers of DSS had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court in March 2018 in which they had claimed that actual death toll was much higher.

However, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 29 March 2022 submitted data on complaints of police firing taken up by the NHRC in the year 2017 but made no mention of the deaths in Panchkula.

[48][49][50][51][52] The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind tweeted, "Violence and damage to public property after court verdict is highly condemnable; appeal to all citizens to maintain peace".

[54] While reviewing the situation with the National Security Advisor and the Home Secretary, he asked officials to "work round the clock to restore normalcy and provide all possible assistance that is required".

[7] According to Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh, the fault in this mayhem lay with allowing people to gather, adding that "this sort of reaction was anticipated".