Accused were paid ₹10,000 for putting up Khalistan flags: HP Police

Harbir Singh and Paramjit Singh Pamma are in the police custody till May 16 and being interrogated by an SIT formed by HP Police to probe the case

The two accused arrested for hoisting Khalistan flags and scrawling graffiti at the gate of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha’s Tapvoan complex had reached Dharamshala from Punjab’s Rupnagar on a scooter and bought paint from a local market at Yol Cantonment, police said on Sunday.

Khalistan flags tied on the main gates and walls of Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha complex, at Tapovan in Kangra district. (PTI file photo)

Harbir Singh and Paramjit Singh Pamma are in the police custody till May 16 and being interrogated by an SIT formed to probe the case.

During interrogation, the duo confessed that they had written slogans and putting up flags, police sources said. The accused claimed to have brought the flags from Rupnagar.

The SIT had arrested Harbir from his house in Morinda village of Rupnagar district on May 11, while Pamma was nabbed two days later by the Rupnagar police from Chamkaur Sahib and handed over to the Himachal police.

Sources said the accused were petty criminals who have cases of theft and drug peddling registered against them in Rupnagar. They were allegedly paid ₹10,000 to put up the Khalistan flags at Vidhan Sabha gate, they added.

They also recorded a video after putting up the flags and passed it on to their handler, who circulated it in the media.

The police are now trying to trace those who financed their activities.