Mumbai police start enquiry into Khalistani leader’s alleged voice clip

Mumbai police are investigating a voice clip from Sikh for Justice leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who claimed to be planning to destroy the Indian economy starting on March 12.

MUMBAI: After a voice clip from a person claiming to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, leader of Sikh for Justice (SFJ) went viral, the Mumbai police have initiated an inquiry into the matter.

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Several media houses and corporates in Mumbai received the voice clip in which Pannun claimed that the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange D-Day would begin on March 12. “We are now going to destroy the Indian economy,” says the clip. “We will not be bombing stock exchanges but we will make them bankrupt. Dump Indian stocks and buy American stocks before March 12.”

The voice note further claimed, “India is responsible for transnational terrorism, and we are going to break the backbone of the Indian economy.”

Corporates and news agencies reported the voice clip to the Mumbai police and other intelligence agencies, after which the police started tracing the number. A police officer said it was a foreign number, adding that March 12 was the 31st anniversary of the Mumbai serial bomb blasts, in which the BSE building was one of the targets.

Pannun had earlier instigated Muslims in a video message to stop Narendra Modi’s Ayodhya roadshows on December 30, after which the intelligence agency went on high alert. The Khalistani leader had also threatened to ‘shut down’ the ICC World Cup final and later attack India’s Parliament. He had also warned the global Sikh community against flying Air India.

In November, 2023, US federal prosecutors charged Indian national Nikhil Gupta with working with an Indian government employee to kill Pannun on American soil.