The death toll rose to 36 Saturday, following riots that broke out after a court convicted a controversial guru of raping two of his followers the day before, police said.
B.S. Sandhu, director general of police in Haryana state, said nearly 270 people had also been wounded in the violent protests in northern India.
Tens of thousands of supporters of the guru, who calls himself Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan, had rioted Friday after he was convicted in the courthouse in the city of Panchkula. Violent mobs then set fire to government buildings and attacked journalists and police officers.
Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds and eventually resorted to firing warning shots in the air in an attempt to control the rioters.
Police spokesman Surjit Singh urged the followers, who had holed up at the guru's headquarters in Sirsa, in Haryana state, to go home.
"There are no instructions to security forces to enter the headquarters and forcibly clear it,'' Singh told the Associated Press on Saturday.
Hundreds of security forces remain in the town, and a curfew has been imposed in Sirsa.
A spokesman for the guru's Dera Sacha Sauda sect on Friday urged his supporters to remain calm.
“I just want to request everyone to maintain peace at the moment,” said Dilawar Insan. “We will explore what legal options are available to us.”
Indian investigators alleged that Singh, dubbed the "guru in bling,” molested two of his female worshippers – a charge that he and his supporters deny.
Many popular ascetics claiming to have mystical powers in India, including Singh, have been linked with scandals and controversy.
In 2015, Singh, leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, was accused of encouraging 400 followers to undergo castration at his ashram so they could get closer to God.
Singh also stood trial for conspiracy to murder a journalist in 2002.
But his supporters have stood firm, referring to him as "the ultimate humanitarian" on the group's website.
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