Sushree Mohanty
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on February 11, 2021 registered a charge-sheet against six individuals regarding an instance of hoisting the Khalistani flag by cadres of the prohibited Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on the occasion of Independence Day in Punjab’s Moga, an official stated.
The Sikh for Justice is an US-Based organization which has been restricted by the Government.
The charge-sheet, filed in the Mohali Court, has been recorded against six individuals, including the head of the organization, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The charge-sheet has been registered under different sections of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
It also contains some relevant sections of Prevention of Insult to National Honor Act.
The charges-heet is filed against Inderjit Singh, Jaspal Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Jagwinder Singh, Pannu and Harpreet Singh.
Inderjit Singh, Jaspal Singh and Akashdeep Singh are radicalized individuals from the organization, and plotted with Pannu and Rana Singh to hoist the Khalistani flag in Moga, the NIA official stated.
On August 14, two individuals having connections to the organization raised a yellow-hued flag with Khalistan written on it on the patio of a four-story working of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office Head Office in Moga.
They additionally cut the rope of the Indian Flag near to the entryway and hauled it alongside the rope, the NIA authority said.
The crime was carried out at the command of the head of the Sikh For Justice organization, Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who had offered them monetary rewards, the NIA official added.
In the two charge-sheets registered before, NIA had affirmed that the SFJ was inducing Sikhs in the Indian Army and the police to conduct a mutiny against the Indian State. It had additionally claimed that SFJ cadres in India have committed a series of crimes involving violence and brutality for the cause of Khalistan.
“Investigation has revealed that accused Inderjit Singh, Jaspal Singh and Akashdeep Singh were radicalized members of SFJ… and conspired with Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and Rana Singh of SFJ. In furtherance of conspiracy, accused Inderjit Singh, Jaspal Singh and Akashdeep Singh were involved in hoisting Khalistani flag at DC Office Complex, Moga on August 14, 2020, and also tearing of Indian National Flag,” the charge-sheet registered o February 11, 2021 has alleged.
They also made video of the whole incident and sent it to SFJ’s Pannu and Rana Singh which was posted by them on different web-based or social media platforms like YouTube, US Media International and Sikh For Justice Channel to spread the secessionist slogan of the organization.
The acts committed by them aimed to promote Referendum-2020 for making a different state for Khalistan, the NIA official said.
Referendum 2020 is a reference to a campaign being carried out through online modes demanding for a separate Khalistan state.
The NIA has also claimed that investigations have discovered that SFJ has dispatched an unremitting campaign through various social media accounts on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and various other sites to incite sedition and cause disturbance to the peace and harmony in the Indian State.
Further, the probe has discovered some electronic devices including cellophanes, desktops etc. carrying incriminating materials in the possession of the accused, thus establishing their association with the banned organization of Sikh for Justice.
The two individuals, Pannu and Rana Singh had received funds through the heads of the organization based in foreign nations, added the NIA statement.
The investigations for the matter are still ongoing.