Khalistani flag hoisting by SFJ: NIA files chargesheet against 6

New Delhi, February 11

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday filed a chargesheet against six people in connection with a case of hoisting the Khalistani flag by cadres of the outlawed Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) organisation on the eve of Independence Day in Punjab’s Moga, an official said.

The US-based separatist group SFJ is banned by the government.

On August 14, two miscreants hoisted a yellow-coloured flag with Khalistan written on it on the terrace of a four-storey building of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office Complex in Moga, according to an NIA spokesperson.

They also cut the rope of the Indian flag hoisted near the main gate and dragged it along with the rope, the official said.

The crime was committed by the miscreants at the behest of SFJ militant Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, who had offered them cash rewards, the NIA official said.

The chargesheet was filed before a special NIA judge in Mohali under relevant sections of the IPC, the UAPA and the Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act against Inderjit Singh, Jaspal Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Jagwinder Singh, Pannu and Harpreet Singh.

Inderjit Singh, Jaspal Singh and Akashdeep Singh are radicalised members of the SFJ, a proscribed unlawful association, and conspired with Pannu and Rana Singh of the SFJ, the NIA official said.

In furtherance of the conspiracy, Inderjit Singh, Jaspal Singh and Akashdeep Singh were involved in hoisting the Khalistani flag at the DC Office Complex in Moga on August 14 last year and also tearing of the Indian national flag hoisted on the premises of the DC Office, the spokesperson said.

They made video of the incident and sent it to SFJ’s Pannu and Rana Singh which was broadcasted by them on various social media platforms like YouTube, US Media International and SFJ Channel to propagate the secessionist agenda of the SFJ and in support of Referendum-2020 for making a separate state of Khalistan, the NIA official said.

Pannu and Rana Singh have also sent funds through money transfer services to Inderjit Singh and Jaspal Singh after the commission of the crime, the official said.

During investigation, various electronic devices like laptop, hard disc, mobile phones containing incriminating material were seized from the accused, establishing their strong involvement in the crime.

Further investigation in the case is underway. PTI

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