E-Paper
LoP Partap Singh Bajwa reaches Mohali cyber crime cell to record statements on his ‘50 bombs’ claim
LoP Partap Singh Bajwa has been booked on charges of providing misleading information with the intention to disturb peace by claiming that 50 bombs have reached the border state.
Punjab leader of opposition (LoP) and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa, who was summoned by the Mohali cyber crime cell over his statements about “50 bombs reaching the state”, reached the police station around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
He was accompanied by senior Congress leaders from across the state, including Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.
Earlier in the day, Bajwa had moved the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking quashing of the FIR against him by the Mohali police.
The FIR was registered on the complaint of a cyber police constable, who said that by making such a statement, Bajwa had intended to disturb public peace and tranquility, creating a sense of fear, ill will, and enmity among different communities.
Bajwa was booked under Sections 197(1)(d) (false and misleading information that endangers the country’s sovereignty and unity) and 353(2) (false statements intend to create enmity and hatred or ill will), a non-bailable offence, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the cybercrime police station in Phase-7, Mohali, on Sunday night.
Section 353(2) of the BNS, which deals with false statements intended to create enmity or hatred, is non-bailable. This means that an individual arrested under this section cannot be released on bail before a court hearing. The section also specifies a punishment of imprisonment for up to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Following Bajwa’s ‘50 bombs’ claim, chief minister Bhagwant Mann had ordered an investigation. Intelligence officers AIG Ravjot Kaur and SP Harbir Singh Atwal visited Bajwa’s house in Chandigarh for an inquiry, but said later that the Congress leader failed to cooperate, which led to the filing of the FIR and subsequent summons.
Bajwa had initially been summoned by the cyber crime cell on Monday, but he had sought time until Tuesday, saying he would be unable to appear as he had received the summons late on Sunday night.
