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The Times of India
The Times of India
National
Anand Bodh | TNN

Khalistani flags on Himachal assembly main gate: SFJ's Gurpatwant Singh Pannu instigated incident, says police investigation

SHIMLA: Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of the Sikh for Justice (SFJ) had "instigated the two arrested accused from Punjab" to tie the Khalistani flags at the main gate of the Himachal Pradesh assembly complex in Dharamshala on May 8 "in lieu of money", an investigation conducted by the police has revealed.

Now the police are also probing the angle of radicalization and their relations with radical groups. As per the investigation, Pannu had asked them to carry out the above operations and then shoot the video of the same and share it with him. Later, these videos were made viral by Pannu under the banner of Sikh For Justice. Spot identification and recoveries have been made at the instance of the two accused in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

DGP Sanjay Kundu in a statement said that further investigation is being carried out in this case. He said that on May 8, around 6.15am, an information was received at Police Post Yol in Kangra district Kangra that some unknown persons had inscribed the words ‘Khalistan’ on the peripheral wall of the premises of the Vidhan Sabha, Tapovan and also tied the flags of ‘Khalistan’ on the adjoining gate.

Based on this information, a team from Police Post Yol including the in-charge, Sub Inspector Narayan rushed to the spot and it was revealed that some unknown persons had painted the word ‘Khalistan’ on the peripheral wall of the premises of Vidhan Sabha in Gurumukhi script in green colour and also tied five yellow colored flags/banners on the adjoining gate on which ‘Khalistan’ was written in English.

Accordingly, on the statement of one person, who had informed the police, case FIR was registered under sections 153A, 153B IPC and Section 3 of HP Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985.

In view of the sensitivity of the incident, a Special Investigation Team was constituted under Santosh Patial, DIG (Intelligence & Security). During the course of investigation, it was found that two persons had stayed in a Home Stay at Narwana on May 7 and on the same night they had abruptly checked out from the Home Stay.

As per the statement of Home Stay Owner, he had kept the address proofs and the mobile numbers of those persons in his record. After a careful analysis of the various CCTV footages and CDR analysis of the suspected mobile phone numbers, the SIT came to know that the above suspect persons had travelled on a two wheeler bearing registration No PB-87-5411 and had stayed in the above Home Stay on the relevant date and time. Both these accused belonged to District Rupnagar, Punjab.

Statement said that an advance team headed by Deputy SP rank officer was sent to verify the above facts to District Rupnanagar, Punjab. During the course of investigation, a video message and a letter also went viral on social media wherein one Gurpatwant Singh Pannu (Legal Advisor, Sikh for Justice) claimed that the above act had been carried out at his behest.

Based on the contents of the above viral message, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu was also named as a co-accused and main conspirator in the present case and section 13 of the Unlawful Practices (Prevention) Act, 1967 was also added.

During the course of the investigation, on May 11 one of the accused, Harveer Singh (37) of Morinda in Rupnagar district was identified and arrested from his hometown. The accused was interrogated and produced before the Court on May 12 and police remand of 5 days was obtained. The two-wheeler bearing registration PB-87-5411, which was used for the commission of the offence, was also recovered from the accused.

A smart mobile phone was also recovered from the possession of the accused and it was revealed by the accused that after the commission of the crime, they had shot the video of the crime scene on the day of occurrence which was shared with Gurpatwant Singh Pannu as per the direction of Pannu above. The same has been sent to RFSL, Dharamshala for mobile forensics and the result of the same is awaited.

Further, while carrying out the investigation, a field team was kept stationed near Morinda, Punjab which was given active assistance by CIA Staff, Rupnagar district. On, May 13 based on the information received, the second accused, Paramjeet Singh of Rurki Hiran village under Chamkaur Sahib tehsil was jointly detained by HP Police and CIA Rupnagar team.

Accordingly, a team headed by ASP (City) Kangra was sent to Chamkaur Sahib Police Station to arrest the above accused. The above accused was arrested and produced before the jurisdictional Court on May 14 and and police remand was procured till May 16. Both the accused were produced before the jurisdictional court on May 16 and police remand has been procured till Thursday.

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