CISF staffer ‘slaps’ Kangana Ranaut at Chandigarh airport, detained

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, June 6

Actor Kangana Ranaut, who recently won the Lok Sabha election from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on the BJP ticket, alleged she was hit in the face and abused by a woman CISF constable during a security check at the Chandigarh airport on Thursday.

Terror in Punjab

I am safe, but my concern is how to handle this shocking rise in terror and violence in Punjab? Kangana Ranaut, BJP MP-Elect

The constable, Kulwinder Kaur, who appeared to be upset with Kangana over her stance on the farmers’ protests, has been suspended and an FIR lodged against her, officials said. The CISF has also ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.

A purported video of the constable has gone viral. “Kangana made a statement that farmers were protesting in Delhi because they were paid Rs 100/200. My mother was one of the protesters,” she said in the purported video.

Airport DSP Kuljinder Singh said a complaint and a report citing a “slapping incident” had been received. Sources said Kulwinder had been detained.

The 35-year-old constable hails from Mahiwal village in Sultanpur Lodhi and was posted at the Chandigarh airport for the past two years. Her husband is also in the CISF. Her brother Shera Singh is a leader of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee in Kapurthala. According to him, the incident took place around 3.30 pm when Kangana arrived at the airport to board a flight to Delhi. A heated exchange took place between the two after his sister told Kangana to keep her phone and handbag in the tray for a security check. Kulwinder then questioned the actor over her remark on women participating in the farmers’ protest, he said.

Meanwhile, her family reportedly threatened to protest any action against her. Later in a video, Kangana alleged, “When I completed the security check, a woman security staffer came towards me, hit me and started abusing me. When I asked why she did it, she said she supports the farmers.”

Kangana made another seemingly controversial comment in the video, saying, “I am safe, but my concern is how to handle this shocking rise in terror and violence in Punjab?”

Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, who lost the Mandi Lok Sabha election to the actor, criticised the incident, saying there were other saner ways to express one’s feelings. Terming the incident a serious matter, National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma called for serious action and said the panel had taken up the matter with the CISF. Those responsible for security at the airport were breaching security, she said in a post on X. (With PTI inputs)