SEDITION CASE AGAINST PANNUN FOR THREAT CALLS TO HIMACHAL CM

SHIMLA: A day after Himachal chief minister Jai Ram Thakur received threats against hoisting the Tricolour on Independence Day, police booked Gurpakhwant Singh Pannun, the founder of US-based banned pro-Khalistani group, ‘Sikhs for Justice’, on Saturday.

The FIR has been registered at Cyber Crime police station in Shimla under Sections 124 (sedition), 153-A (act prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 506 (intimidation), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13 of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, besides Section 66 of IT Act 2000.

“This case has been registered against one Gurpakhwant Singh Pannun based on a recorded audio clip received by many journalists and citizens of Himachal Pradesh on their phones,” Himachal police said in a press statement.

The threat received through the alleged audio clip from Gurpakhwant Singh Pannun is under investigation to mitigate any terrorist activity propagated by pro-Khalistani outfits, the statement added.

Police said the investigation so far has revealed that these audio clips landed in the phones of journalists and citizens of Himachal Pradesh through international numbers/VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

“Voice spectrography of the alleged audio clip will be conducted in due course of time to fix criminality of accused,” said the police, adding that the investigation has national and international ramifications, therefore, Himachal Pradesh Police is seeking cooperation from various central agencies to crack down the case and bring the accused to justice.

State police have beefed up the security of the chief minister and other dignitaries in the state following the threat calls.