SFJ head Pannun, two others booked for painting pro-Khalistani slogans on walls

SFJ, a US-based organisation, is banned in India and its head Pannun is now accused of spray painting Khalistani paintings on people’s houses

Ludhiana A day after the state police busted a secessionist module of the US-based banned organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), the Dehlon police have booked its head Gurpatwant Singh Pannun for sedition.

Khalistani slogans were found painted on the walls in Gill village of Doraha after which SFJ head Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was booked for sedition. (HT Photo)

This was after Khalistani slogans were found painted on the walls in Gill village. Jashan Mangat, of Asa Patti Rampur village in Doraha, has also been named in the FIR. The third accused in this case is Doraha resident Gurwinder Singh, who was arrested on Friday.

The FIR has been lodged on a complaint from Dehlon station house officer (SHO) inspector Sukhdev Singh, who said that pro-Khalistani slogans ‘Khalistan Zindabad’, ‘Kisani Da Hal Khalistan’ and ‘Punjab Banega Khalistan’ had been spray painted on walls of houses in Gill village on the intervening night of August 18 and 19.

After investigation, the police found the involvement of Gurwinder and Mangat in the crime, with the SHO claiming that Pannun’s role in such activities had been well-documented.

Gill sarpanch Harpreet Singh Mika said he had hoisted the Indian flag at Pannu’s native Khankot village of Amritsar, and had been receiving threats from the SFJ since then. In the wee hours of August 18, some unidentified accused wrote pro-Khalistan slogans near his office in Gill village.

He added that when counter-intelligence and state special operational cell, Mohali, conducted an operation in Doraha on Friday in which Gurwinder along with Jagwinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh of Ropar were arrested, it was found that Gurwinder and Mangat, of Doraha, had written the slogans near his office. The SHO added that the police would bring Gurwinder for questioning and a hunt was on to nab Mangat.

Over 2.8 lakh pamphlets carrying propaganda material related to ‘Referendum 2020’, a printer, spray pump and spray bottles for writing secessionist graffiti on walls, one laptop, three mobile phones and a Honda City car were recovered from Gurwinder.

A case against Pannun and two others has been registered under Sections 124-A (sedition), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153-B (imputation, assertion prejudicial to national integration) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).