CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police on Thursday registered a case against the legal advisor of US-based Sikh Organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), and four others on charges of sedition, promoting enmity and criminal conspiracy after chief minister Amarinder Singh ordered a crackdown on the outfit amid complaints by the local people of deliberate attempts to vitiate the state’s atmosphere. Two of the accused are based in India.
His orders came after a series of provocative posters and hoardings came up at more than 40 outdoor sites across the state. Investigations by the police showed that the campaign, titled ‘Punjab Independence Referendum 2020’, had been managed by the Baba Hanuman Singh Enterprise agency, which was hired for the purpose by New York-based SFJ, through its legal advisor Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Besides Pannun, others booked by the police have been identified as Jagdeep Singh, a native of Fatehgarh Sahib and Jagjeet Singh, a native of Jammu and Kashmir — both now based in New York. The two accused based in India have been identified as Gurpeet Singh from Mohali and Harpunit Singh from Jammu.
Further investigations are in progress to uncover the various financial and operational links among suspects based in India and abroad, said the police spokesperson, adding that the SFJ, backed by Khalistani forces, had been actively trying to destabilise Punjab for the past several months
The Punjab police have, in recent weeks, busted several modules of terrorists linked to Khalistani forces. Interrogation of these radicals revealed that they were being mentored and armed by Khalistani supporters in Canada, USA and other places, with some also being trained by ISI in Pakistan.
Amarinder has made it clear that any attempt to create disharmony or to revive terrorism in the state would be nipped in the bud. Punjab and its people have suffered enough at the hands of Khalistani extremists, said Amarinder, adding that his government would nail every single person found involved in any subversive activities.
He has also categorically ruled out any local support for the SFJ campaign, saying that external forces were out to whip up passions to further their own vested interests.