Actor Akshay Kumar to appear before SIT today
: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar will on Wednesday appear before the special investigation team (SIT) probing the police firing on Sikh protesters after a series of incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015.
Kumar, who was sent a notice under Section 160 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) by SIT on November 11, will be questioned in Chandigarh from 11 am.
He was earlier asked to appear at the Amritsar circuit house for his examination as witness in a case registered at Kotkapura police station.
The SIT later agreed to record his statement at the Punjab Police headquarters in Chandigarh, following a request made by Akshay’s Mumbai-based counsel.
“We have got a request from Akshay’s lawyer for his examination in Chandigarh. We are reday to record the actor’s statement in Amritsar or Chandigarh wherever it suits him. His lawyer said they will intimate us about their final decision in this regard by this evening,” SIT member and inspector general (IG) Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh told Hindustan Times.
AKSHAY’S MENTION IN RANJIT PANEL REPORT
Though Akshay does not have any direct link with the case, the SIT wants to examine him as his name was mentioned in the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission report on sacrilege incidents, which was tabled in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in August this year.
In its report, the commission referred to a letter received from former MLA Harbans Jalal on October 9, 2017, wherein he alleged that a meeting took place between Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and the then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at the Mumbai residence of the actor to facilitate the release of dera head’s movie “The Messanger of God-2” in Punjab.
Jalal also alleged that giving pardon to the dera head by the Akal Takht in a blasphemy case was also part of the plan discussed in the meeting.
However, Jalal had stated that his allegation was based on “hearsay”.
Reacting to the summons issued to him, Akshay had initially claimed that he never met Ram Rahim in his life and denied arranging any meeting between the dera head and Sukhbir.
In a tweet, he even dared “anybody to prove his statement wrong”. The SAD chief, who was questioned by the SIT on Monday, also denied meeting the Bollywood star outside Punjab. The probe team had also questioned former chief minister Parkash Singh in the case on November 16.