Hindustan Times (Patiala)

Radical Sikh leader booked for flaunting arms on social media

AMRITPAL SINGH MEHRON HAD ALSO THREATENED PUNJAB CONGRESS PRESIDENT AMARINDER SINGH RAJA WARRING

- Tarsem Deogan tarsem.deogan@htlive.com

LUDHIANA : Punjab Police registered a case against radical Sikh leader Amritpal Singh Mehron in Ludhiana on Thursday for flaunting weapons on social media and threatenin­g Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring when he objected to his doing so.

The first informatio­n report (FIR) was registered after a web channel telecast an interview of 27-year-old Mehron, who had unsuccessf­ully contested the assembly election from Tarn Taran earlier this year on a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD, Amritsar) ticket. Mehron, who leads self-styled radical organisati­on Qaum De Rakhe, had hit the headlines in 2020 when he, along with his aides, had vandalised statues of folk dancers near Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Two days ago, Moga police had booked Bhagwant Singh, an aide of radical Sikh outfit Waris Punjab De leader Amritpal Singh, for flaunting weapons on social media.

A week before that the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government had banned songs promoting gun culture and violence, and prohibited flaunting of weapons, besides the review of arms licences in the state to ensure law and order.

The state government has been under fire from the opposition Congress, the SAD and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the deteriorat­ing law and order. Concerns have heightened after back-to-back murders of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar and Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh in Faridkot this month.

ACP lodged complaint against Amritpal

Sumit Sood, the assistant commission­er of police (ACP, detective), who is the complainan­t in Thursday’s case, said he came to know about the video being circulated on social networking sites.

Mehron recorded the video after Raja Warring tweeted a picture of him and his aides and objected to their flaunting weapons.

In his post on November 21, Warring had tweeted: “We welcome & appreciate baptising youth & bringing them close to Sikhi, but for Gurus’ sake don’t promote weapons which will eventually lead to violence. We have already paid heavy price. Those horrible memories are still haunting us. Please don’t push Punjab again into dark era.”

In reply to the tweet, Mehron said: “Eh ta .32-bore te .12-bore vekh ke roi jande ne (They are crying after seeing.32-bore and .12-bore revolvers). Ah jo hathiyar jo haje show nahi hoye oh vekh ke ta ehna ne jehar hi kha leni hai (What if they came to know about the weapons we haven’t shown yet? They will end up committing suicide by consuming poison).”

The assistant commission­er of police said Mehron was trying to disturb law and order in Punjab by issuing such statements and misguiding youngsters. He even threatened Warring with dire consequenc­es, he said.

A case was registered under Sections 188 (disobedien­ce to order duly promulgate­d by public servant) and 506 (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act.

Ludhiana commission­er of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said the police were keeping a strict vigil on social media to trace people trying to disturb peace and harmony in Punjab.

BJP leader booked

In another case, the Ludhiana police have booked Jatinder Goryan, a local BJP leader, after a video of him uttering derogatory words against a community came to fore.

He has been booked under Sections 294 (obscene acts and songs), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 506 of the Indian Penal Code in a first informatio­n report (FIR) registered at the Jamalpur police station.

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