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Delhi police to scrutinise footage of protest at India mission in UK
A senior Delhi Police officer said that they are reviewing photographs and video footage of the protest
After registering a case under several penal provisions, including India’s anti-terror law, in connection with the protest outside the Indian High Commission in London by pro-Khalistan groups on March 19, the special cell of Delhi Police has begun a probe to identify the people involved, officials familiar with the case said on Monday.
A senior Delhi Police officer said that they are reviewing photographs and video footage of the protest. “In some of the photographs and videos, pro-Khalistan people are seen attempting to pull down the Indian flag, which was rescued by the Indian security personnel. Besides alerting our intelligence officers in Punjab and other places to gather more details, we have started identifying the agitators to take legal action against them,” he said, asking not to be named.
A first information report (FIR) in the matter,which invoked provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, was registered on March 24on the directions of the Union home ministry, which asked police to take legal action on the basis of a report received from the external affairs ministry about the protest on March 19.
The protest in London began hours after Punjab Police launched a statewide manhunt against pro-Khalistani separatist preacher Amritpal Singh and his followers, arresting nearly 100 people after suspending mobile internet and text messaging services across the state. Amritpal, who was accused in eight FIRs of abduction, inciting violence and disturbing social harmony, is linked to the Khalistani secessionist movement and is chief of Waris Punjab De.
The officer quoted above said that prima facie, it appears that the protestors were two groups of people -- Indian passport-holders living in the United Kingdom and permanent UK residents of Indian origin. “In case of Indian passport-holders, we’ll inform the authorities in London and issue a look-out circular (LOC) against them and arrest them. For permanent UK residents, we’ll ask the British government to extradite them to India. We’ve already invoked provisions of UAPA related to action on foreign soil that threaten the security and sovereignty of India and that damage or destroy property in a foreign country used for any purposes of the Indian government or its agencies,” he said.
Another officer said that sleuths have been deployed at different public places like airport, railway stations, bus terminals and Metro stations in the Capital. “We have received inputs that some associates of Amritpal have been trying to go to Nepal via Delhi. We are on alert ever since Punjab Police informed us that Amritpal, in the guise of a sadhu (monk), had boarded a bus late on March 20 and deboarded near Peepli on the Rajasthan-Haryana border in Jhunjhunu district the next morning. We also registered a case at Indira Gandhi International Airport police station on Friday after a passenger at the airport allegedly received a threatening voice note, wherein a person talked about removing the national flag at Pragati Maidan,” the officer said.
He also said that last week, one Daljit Singh Kalsi, a close aide of Amritpal was arrested from Gurugram on the instructions of the National Investigation Agency.
“He had left his residence in Punjabi Bagh area in 2016. He got ₹35 crore from abroad in the last two years and his phone records show that he made multiple calls to Pakistan. Kalsi, who is considered to be Amritpal’s fundraiser, is among the seven people taken into custody and shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh over the past week,” said the second officer.
