Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has filed a complaint with Batala police over a video clip that has gone viral and shows the minister comparing Guru Nanak with Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. He claimed the video was doctored to defame him.
In his complaint, Randhawa had demanded registration of criminal case under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67, 67-A of Information Technology Act against the news channel that aired the video clip.
Randhawa blamed his political opponents saying that he knew who had instigated the channel to run the “defamatory remarks” against him and will disclose their names at the right time.
In his statement to media persons outside senior superintendent of police (SSP) office, Randhawa said “Yesterday afternoon, I was attending a function in Hoshiarpur when I got a call from somebody asking me to watch the news channel in which the doctored video clip was running. I was shocked to see that I was shown comparing picture of Guru Nanak with Capt Amarinder Singh. The video clip has clearly been doctored.”
Being an Amritdhari Sikh, i have strong faith and full devotion in the Sikh religion, he said. “I have been in public life for the last three decades and anybody who knows me can assure that I can never make such remarks. I will not spare anyone who has tried to ruin my image.” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}Being an Amritdhari Sikh, i have strong faith and full devotion in the Sikh religion, he said. “I have been in public life for the last three decades and anybody who knows me can assure that I can never make such remarks. I will not spare anyone who has tried to ruin my image.” the minister said.
{{/usCountry}}Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman confirmed that he had received the complaint from the minister. “I have sent the video clip to state cyber crime cell for further examination,” he added.
Randhawa said that he will also ask Punjab’s director general of police (DGP), Dinkar Gupta, to thoroughly probe and identify the culprits behind the “mischievous act”.
“It is a doctored video. I want the matter to be thoroughly investigated and I will also ask the DGP that the culprits who tampered the video and circulated it are identified and punished,” he said.
“The voice has been edited in the video and some words are being attributed to me which I never spoke,” said the minister.