Khalistan flags appeared at the main entrance to the Himachal Pradesh assembly complex at Kaned in Kangra district on Sunday morning, accompanied by a sprinkling of graffiti in green across the white boundary wall. The district administration set up an SIT to probe the intrusion, which might have happened late in the previous night or before dawn, the police said.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), was named the main accused in an amended FIR.
CM Jai Ram Thakur said strict action would be taken against the culprits, who were possibly able to escape undetected because the assembly complex remains deserted for most of the year, barring late December or early January when the winter session is held in Dharamshala. “I condemn the cowardly incident of raising Khalistan flags at the gate of Dharamshala assembly complex in the dead of night,” the CM tweeted.
The FIR had been registered under Sections 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, offence committed in place of worship, etc) and 153-B (imputation, assertions prejudicial to national-integration) of the IPC and Section 3 of the HP Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985. Later in the day, Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was also added to the FIR.
DGP Sanjay Kundu said a six-member SIT of Dharamshala police, headed by DIG (intelligence and security) Santosh Patial, had started probing the possibility of any “inter-state and international link” in the intrusion. He said that given the SFJ’s June 6 referendum call and incidents involving Khalistani elements in the neighbouring states, including a Khalistani banner being spotted in Una district on April 11, there was reason to suspect the outfit.
Congress and AAP blamed the BJP government for the alleged security lapse. Congress held a protest in Shimla, with its state chief Pratibha Singh and AICC secretary Sudhir Sharma questioning the failure of the government to install CCTV cameras at the complex and deploy adequate number of personnel there to keep watch. AAP’s Manish Sisodia tweeted that questioned how a government that allegedly couldn’t protect the sanctity of the assembly could save the people.
