Popular Indian guru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh has been convicted of rape and will be sentenced on Monday.
Up to 200,000 of his supporters had flocked to Chandigarh in northern India ahead of the verdict.
Thousands of army, police and paramilitary forces have been deployed amid fears of violence.
The army has taken the guru into protective custody and he will be transferred to a military base.
Television footage showed the guru’s followers attacking vans belonging to Indian media outlets. Tear-gas shells are being fired into the crowds.
Mr Singh arrived at court in the town of Panchkula from his ashram in the state of Haryana in a convoy of more than 100 vehicles.
Schools and offices in the area were closed, trains were stopped, roads were blocked and three stadiums were set aside as makeshift prisons in case of trouble, officials said. -BBC
