Khalistan flags at HP assembly gate: Morinda man arrested
Accused being brought to Dharamshala, efforts on to arrest accomplice
DHARAMSHALA : The special investigation team (SIT) of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday arrested one of the two accused of putting up Khalistan flags at the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha gate and scrawling graffiti on its boundary wall.
In a press statement, the police said that a team led by SIT in-charge Vimukt Ranjan raided a house at Morinda around 8.30am and rounded up Harbir Singh, alias Raju, 30, a resident of Ward No 1, Sugar Mill Road, Morinda in Rupnagar district.
The Himachal Pradesh Police team also raided the house of Paramjit Singh at Rurhki Heera village in Chamkaur Sahib of Rupnagar district but failed to arrest him as he had already fled. Raju is being brought to Dharamshala and efforts are on to arrest his accomplice.
“One of the two people who put up Khalistan flags at the Vidhan Sabha gate has been arrested a few hours ago. The arrested accused is from Morinda in Punjab,” chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said in a statement.
The CM said the Himachal and Punjab police were jointly looking for the second accused, who will be arrested soon. “The
state police has followed rule of law and due process. They got a search and arrest warrant from a competent court in Dharamshala,” he said.
What had happened?
Khalistan flags were put up at the Vidhan Sabha complex entry gate at Tapovan near Dharamshala on May 8.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of the banned pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) claimed responsibility for the act through an email sent to media houses.
On May 9, the Himachal Pradesh Police had said that they will get a red-corner notice issued by Interpol against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, counsel general of proKhalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ).
Director general of police Sanjay Kundu said in the past, misleading and threatening messages were received on the mobile phones and social media accounts belonging to journalists and public representatives through modern communication tools.
In the last week of July 2021, Kundu said, Pannun had sent a a minute-long recorded message to some people, wherein he had threatened to obstruct the hoisting of the national flag in the state on August 15, the Independence Day.
In another similar message, the government was held responsible for the anti-farmer laws and people of Himachal were warned to stay at home on August 15.
The DGP said they had registered a case at the cyber crime police station in Shimla on July 31 under various sections of the IPC, UAPA and IT Act.
POLICE ALSO RAIDED THE HOUSE OF PARAMJIT SINGH IN CHAMKAUR SAHIB