TARGETED KILLINGS OF RIGHTWING LEADERS Policemen get threats on social media, phone, email
CHANDIGARH: After an online campaign seeking release of accused Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi, a UK resident arrested in Jalandhar for the tageted killings in Punjab over the past two years, now comes another campaign. This one is directed against the police officers involved in busting of the alleged terror module.
Being run on Facebook and WhatsApp, the campaign liberally uses abuse and has various posts with death threats.
One such Facebook update posted from the page ‘Fan Jathedar Jagtar Singh Hawara’ — dedicated to convict in the killing of the then chief minister Beant Singh in 1995 — targets an inspector-rank officer, Jangjit Singh, who reportedly led the operation to arrest Johal on November 4. Even Family pictures of the inspector have also been shared in the post in which he has been accused of torturing Johal.
The police headquarters has written to Facebook for blocking such pages and accounts.
Sources said a DSP and SP have received threatening phonecalls from two Canada numbers, and the intelligence wing of the police has started a probe. Other cops have got such calls from the UK and Italy too.
On Twitter too, threat posts can been seen. One tweet reads, “Everyone is having family and these police officials who have tortured Jaggi by giving shocks of electric wire on private parts, would have to reply one day. Kaum thuaton badla leke rahegi (The community will take revenge from you).” As part of #freejagginow campaign earlier, social media groups have been alleging torture but a court in Moga on Friday refused a new medical test, saying that it had already been carried out.
A senior police officer, who did not ant to be named, said hate mail, phone calls and death threats have been received from various hardliner groups. “Since this tantamounts to deterring police officers from doing their duty, we are looking at available legal remedies,” he said.
A DGP-rank officer told HT, “We are conducting a probe about persons running such pages. Not even a single one of them is from India, and all such hatemongers are functioning from Canada, Italy, UK and Germany. We are mulling the option of blacklisting these persons.”