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CISF woman constable booked for allegedly hitting BJP MP Kangana Ranaut
The BJP MP claimed that the constable approached her from the side as she was waiting in the security check area, hit her and began hurling abuses at her, seemingly without any provocation
Mohali: The Chandigarh police on Friday registered a first information report (FIR) against Kulwinder Kaur, a woman Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable posted at Chandigarh airport, for allegedly slapping newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kangana Ranaut, officials said.
A case has been registered under sections 323 and 341 of the Indian Penal Code against Kaur following the complaint, said police.
The CISF constable was immediately suspended after the alleged incident on Thursday.
While officials did not comment on the motive of the alleged assault, Ranaut appeared to link it to “extremism and terrorism” in Punjab, although a video of the suspect appeared to suggest she lashed out over the Mandi MP-elect’s stand on the farmers’ protest.
“I was hit on the face, abused. I am safe but concerned about terrorism in Punjab,” Ranaut said in a video uploaded to her social media handle on X at 6.14pm with the caption “Shocking rise in terror and violence in Punjab.”
The incident took place around 3pm at the security checkpoint ahead of Ranaut’s flight.
The BJP MP claimed that the constable approached her from the side as she was waiting in the security check area, hit her and began hurling abuses at her, seemingly without any provocation.
When Ranaut asked for the reason for her behaviour, Kaur allegedly told Ranaut that she was a supporter of the farmers’ protests.
Airport authorities, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Kaur was unhappy with the actor-turned-politician’s stand on the farmers’ protest when she said that the agitators were people paid to demonstrate.
Several videos from the aftermath of the incident were being widely shared on social media. In one video, Kaur can be heard defending herself to bystanders, questioning the kind of statements Ranaut made during the farmers’ protest.
“She said that women had taken ₹100 to sit at the protest. Did she sit there? My mother was among the women protesters in the sit-in when she gave that statement,” Kaur is heard saying in the video.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.
Kaur hails from Sultanpur Lodhi in the Kapurthala district of Punjab and is the sister of farmer leader Sher Singh Malhiwal. Kaur’s husband is also posted with CISF in Jammu and the couple have two children.
While farmers have come in support of the accused, many politicians, including former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and BJP Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur condemned the attack.
