Gurpatwant Pannun, SFJ booked for sedition in 2 cases
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 10
Slammed over phone calls
- In one of the recorded audio messages, Pannun alleged that the Centre and the state government were torturing the youth in the name of enforcing the curfew-lockdown
Pannun is asking the receivers to vote for SFJ if they are in agreement with the policies of the organisation by pressing ‘1’ or pressing ‘2’ if they are in agreement with the policies of the PM and the Punjab CM
The Punjab Police on Friday booked Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and his banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for seditious automated calls aimed at instigating the people, particularly youth, against the state government during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Cases have been registered against Pannun and the US-based SFJ under Section 124A of the IPC, and Sections 10 (a) and 13 (1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, at the State Special Operations Cell, Mohali, said DGP Dinkar Gupta.
According to Varinder Pal Singh, AIG State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Mohali, preliminary probe revealed that Pannun was involved in the commission of seditious acts of advocating secession of Punjab through automated calls as well as pre-recorded audio messages to various residents of Punjab and nearby areas in March and April 2020, with the intention to foment trouble in the state.
Since the spread of the Covid pandemic in India, Pannun, his associates and his organisation were found incessantly disseminating seditious contents on social media to further frustrate and instigate the already anguished and distressed masses of Punjab.
Disclosing the modus operandi, the AIG said in one such recorded audio message, sent from an International number of the North America region, Pannun alleged that the Centre and the Punjab Government were torturing the youth in the name of enforcing the ongoing curfew-lockdown in the state.
The pre-recorded interactive voice response messages through telephone calls as well as audio messages to the people of Punjab belonging to various walks of life from New York (US) were being made for pushing the secessionist agenda of his self-styled organisation, said the AIG.
Pannun, who claims to be calling from New York , was also heard in his pre-recorded interactive voice response messages offering monetary help of Rs 2,000 from the SFJ to each patient in Punjab.
