Indian guru found guilty of rape; army brought in to monitor thousands of his supporters outside court

A court in northern India has convicted a flamboyant guru of raping two of his followers.

Prosecution lawyer HPS Verma said the guru, who calls himself Saint Dr Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan, had been found guilty in the 15-year-old case.

Tens of thousands of supporters who had been waiting for hours near the court shouted in anger after the ruling was announced in Panchkula.

More than 15,000 police and paramilitary soldiers were posted in and around the court where the guru appeared before a judge, as administrators feared an outbreak of violence.

The court will announce a sentence on Monday.

The case was tried in a special court run by India's top agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The bearded guru, who had denied the charges, arrived for the hearing with a 100-vehicle convoy.

His quasi-religious Dera Sacha Sauda sect claims to have 50 million followers and campaigns for vegetarianism and against drug addiction.

It has also taken up social causes such as organising the weddings of poor couples.

Such sects have huge followings in India, and it is not unusual for leaders to have small, heavily armed private militias protecting them.

About 100,000 of his followers had camped overnight in parks, plazas and on the streets of the town, a quiet residential suburb of Chandigarh, which is the common capital of Haryana and Punjab states.

Police erected heavy metal barricades topped with barbed wire along main roads in the town, and blocked the road leading to the courthouse. Officers on horseback monitored the crowds nearby.

"We are prepared to deal with any situation, but are confident that adequate measures have been put in place," said BS Sandhu, a senior Haryana police official.

Army soldiers will later march through the streets to bolster a sense of security, he told reporters, as helicopters whirred overhead before the verdict was read.

Authorities ordered internet and mobile phone services shut down across Haryana and Punjab as a security precaution.

Train services were cancelled through the area, leading to delays across north India. Schools and colleges were also closed.

AP