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SIT summons Punjab’s former DGP Mohammad Mustafa over ‘provocative’ speech
An SIT probing the “provocative speech” case has summoned Punjab’s former DGP Mohammad Mustafa on February 21 to join the investigation
Trouble seems to have escalated for Punjab’s former director-general of police (DGP) Mohammad Mustafa, who is a principal strategic adviser to state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the “provocative speech” case has summoned him on February 21 to join the investigation.
Mustafa was booked for allegedly making communal remarks at a public meeting in Malerkotla, and the SIT was formed to probe the matter. The decision to summon Mustafa was taken after the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Chandigarh, confirmed that the footage of the video clip is authentic. Mustafa’s wife and cabinet minister Razia Sultana is fighting election from the Muslim-dominated Malerkotla assembly segment.
The case was registered against Mustafa under Sections 125 of the Representation of the People Act (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal code at the City-1 Police Station, Malerkotla.
The police registered a case on the basis of a video that went viral on social media.
However, Mustafa in his statement to the police has said that the clip was doctored. He said his statement was wrongly projected. Following this, the SIT has asked a news channel to supply the raw footage of the clip which through a court order was sent to the FSL for examination, and a report was taken.
Malerkotla SP (investigation) Ramesh Choudhary, who is heading the probe, said following the report of the forensic laboratory, the SIT had decided to further proceed with the investigation and summoned the accused to join the investigation.
