Lalit Mohan
Dharamsala, November 25
The Kangra police will try to zero in on the culprits who had created graffiti stating “Khalistan Zindabad” on the walls of a government office here on October 4 from the clues, if any, provided by the two accused arrested on similar offences by the Delhi Police from Gurugram. Sources here said a team of police officials from Kangra would visit Delhi to question the accused. The accused had been arrested from Gurugram on similar charges.
Kangra SP Shalini Agnihotri said the Kangra police would try to gather information from the two accused for creating the graffiti of ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ in Delhi. Since the accused were held for a crime similar to the one that happened in Dharamsala, the Kangra police would try to gather information from those arrested by Delhi Police.
The graffiti in Dharamsala was created three days before the first match of the ICC World Cup to be organised at Dharamsala on October 7. US-based Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had gone on record on social media to claim credit for writing pro-Khalistan slogans on the walls of the government office.
In a similar incident, some miscreants, on the intervening night of May 7 and 8 in 2022, had put up banners displaying ‘Khalistan’ written in Gurmukhi on the main gate of the Vidhan Sabha complex in the Tapowan area of Dharamsala. They had also created similar graffiti on walls of Vidhan Sabha complex adjoining the main gate.
The state police had arrested Harbir Singh and Paramjit Singh, both residents of Morinda area of Ropar district of Punjab, in the case.
They had also booked NRI Pannun, general counsel to Sikhs for Justice, in the case registered for hanging banners of Khalistan on the main gate of Vidhan Sabha complex in Topowan in Dharamsala. Pannun was made main accused in the case. The police had registered a case under Section 13 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Sections 153-A, 153-B of the IPC and Section 3 of HP Open Spaces (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985, in the case against Pannun and other accused.