SIRSA, Haryana: An uneasy calm prevailed at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters here as the group said it was ready to hold talks to sort out the stand-off with Sikh organizations over an alleged insult to Guru Gobind Singh.

"We are ready to sit across the table and sort out the tangle," Dera's chief spokesman Aditya Insaan told PTI here.

The situation remained tense at various places in Punjab and Haryana for the fifth day due to the stand- off over an advertisement that featured Dera head Sant Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh in the garb of the tenth Sikh Guru. Insaan said the Dera followers want an "honorable and peaceful settlement of the issue", adding there has been no contact with the state government or any representative of Sikh groups so far.

He alleged that Sikhs had damaged some properties of the Dera in Punjab's Sangrur district in fresh cases of violence today. Paramilitary forces conducted a flag march in the town to instill confidence among the people in the wake of the tension. Markets, schools, colleges and offices, however, remained open in the town.