Uttarakhand police issued a high alert after the banned Khalistani group, Sikh For Justice (SFJ) issued threats against the upcoming G20 meeting in the state.
Uttarakhand is scheduled to host the Chief Scientific Advisors’ Roundtable of G-20 countries in Ramnagar from March 28 to 30.
A voice recording of SFJ chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannu was received by hundreds of people in the region. The state police increased vigilance after the incident was reported. The case was transferred to the Special Task Force (STF) for further investigation.
In the message, allegedly from spoofed numbers, SFJ has claimed that Ramnagar is not a part of India and it will be made part of Khalistan. It also threatened to put flags in support of Khalistan during the meeting.
Uttarakhand police Special Task Force’s Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Senthil Abudai Krishnaraj S said that this is an attempt by Pannu to gain international attention through the G20 meeting.
“Yesterday night a recorded message of Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, head of the Sikh for Justice organization, banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), was received by the media and other people,” DIG Senthil Abudai said.
“The STF is investigating the matter. So far, we have found that the recorded calls were sent from spoofed numbers. It appears that the step is taken for publicity gain in wake of the upcoming G20 meeting in Ramnagar,” he added.
Giving insights into the preparations of the police force to tackle any untoward incidents, DIG Senthil Abudai said, “The Uttarakhand police are fully on alert and we will not let such elements fulfil their aim. All security arrangements have been made.”
“On Sunday, our senior officials had a briefing rehearsal in Ramnagar and Udham Singh Nagar. Forces have been deployed and in wake of the recent inputs we are increasing the security,” he added.
Meanwhile, an alert was also issued in Uttarakhand over the possibility of Amritpal Singh entering the state from Haryana after fleeing from Punjab.
The alert was issued in the districts of Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand. The state borders were also placed under alert.