Duo from Punjab who put up Khalistan flags history-sheeters: Himachal DGP

Himachal Pradesh Police find both accused, who have been booked for assault and theft in Punjab, put up Khalistan banners in Kharar, Ropar and Kurukshetra, too

The two men arrested from Punjab for putting up Khalistan flags and scrawling graffiti at the entry gate of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in Dharamshala recently had carried out similar acts in Kharar, Ropar and Kurukshetra, police said on Thursday.

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

In a statement issued in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh director general of police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu said the two accused, Harveer Singh and Paramjeet Singh Pamma, were history-sheeters. Harveer, a truck driver, had two cases of assault registered against him in Morinda and Ludhiana and was in jail for three months, while Pamma had six theft cases against him in Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Chandigarh.

The two had started out by putting up a Khalistan banner on the Kharar-Ropar road. Pamma had hung the banner on a foot-over bridge with a rope, while Harveer shot a video of it, which was then shared with Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of the banned Sikhs for Justice, who put it out on social media.

On April 12, the duo put up a Khalistan banner on a tree near the court complex in Ropar and repeated the act outside the house of the Kurukshetra deputy superintendent of police (DSP) on April 29.

Khalistan banners were tied at the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha’s Tapovan Complex in Dharamshala on May 8. Given the sensitivity of the case, the state government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case.

The SIT arrested Harveer from his house in Morinda in Ropar district on May 11, while Pamma was caught two days later.

“During the course of investigation, it has been revealed that Pannu instigated the two to commit these offences in lieu of money,” the DGP said.

Their link with radical groups is also being probed.

“Pannu had asked them to put up the banners, shoot the video and share it with him. Later, these videos were shared on social media by Pannu under the banner of the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ),” said Kundu.

Spot identification and recoveries have been made at the instance of the two accused in Punjab and Himachal and investigation is underway, he added.