Last week, Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat in Sikhism, had declared Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann ‘anti-Guru’ and asked the ‘panth’, or the Sikh community, to have nothing to do with him. Akal Takht found Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann guilty of religious misconduct, and had branded him Khalsa Panth Virodhi.
This step was taken by Akal Takht after a video featuring Bhagwant Mann went viral, which the supreme temporal body concluded hurts the sentiments of the panth (the Sikh community).
Now, it has emerged that there may have been attempts to tamper with the forensic report of the video in question.
Gurugram Police investigating the case has said that two senior Punjab Police officers paid Rs 10 lakh to get a forensic report declaring the footage fake and manipulated.
Related to the case, Gurugram Police have arrested two men, Ankit and Arun. Both have been named in the FIR and will be produced before a court.
The case was registered by Gurugram Police at Police Station DLF Sector-29 following a complaint by a professional associated with digital forensics, cyber investigation, and electronic evidence analysis.
The individual alleged that he was approached by individuals posing as senior officials from the Punjab government, and they tried to pressure him to produce a forensic report with predetermined conclusions, specifically to deny the identity of the individual seen in the viral video and to discredit the allegations associated with it.
Bhagwant Mann is in the eye of a storm after the Akal Takht found the video genuine during its investigations and asked the Sikh community to not have anything to do with the Punjab CM.
With Punjab elections on the horizon, the controversy has erupted at the worst possible time for the Punjab CM as he looks to retain his chair.
