Two Govt Recognised Labs Found Video On Punjab Cm Bhagwant Mann Fake Aap
Hindustan Times
Days after the Akal Takht asked the Sikh community to ostracise chief minister Bhagwant Mann over a controversial video, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday said forensic examinations by two laboratories had shown that the man in the video footage was not hi
m.
Addressing the media in Chandigarh, AAP leader and cabinet minister Harpal Singh Cheema said this conclusion was based on forensic tests conducted by two Government of India-recognised laboratories.
“In these two lab reports, 1,191 different angles have been taken to look at facial recognition, height, body posture, and how he (Mann) walks, talks and stands, for analysis. It establishes that the individual seen in the viral video is not Mann,” Cheema said, presenting the reports.
He said these are independent labs, located outside Punjab.
AAP Punjab media in-charge Baltej Pannu was also present.
On Tuesday, Mann rejected the video that formed the basis of the Akal Takht decree, calling it “false and misleading propaganda”. Mann said he had clarified this before the Akal Takht acting jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj. “Neither the physical build nor the appearance of the person shown in the video matches me, yet false and misleading propaganda is being spread to damage my reputation,” he added.
The CM had been summoned before the Akal Takht after a complaint was filed on January 4 alleging the video purportedly showed him making comments on the ‘Guru ki Golak’ (a gurdwara donation box) and disrespecting the pictures of the Sikh Gurus and slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
The Akal Takht on Monday declared Mann ‘Guru Dokhi’ and ‘Khalsa Panth Virodhi’ over the video. The edict was pronounced after Giani Gargaj claimed that forensic examinations by two government-recognised labs found no evidence of tampering.
At the press conference, Cheema accused the Shiromani Akali Dal of trying to defame Mann by allegedly circulating a “fake” video and falsely linking it to the chief minister. He claimed that anti-Punjab forces orchestrated the conspiracy after being rattled by the Mann government’s enactment of the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act. “Those responsible for creating and circulating the fabricated video would be identified, thoroughly investigated and brought to justice,” he added.
Later, an AAP delegation, comprising Cheema, state chief Aman Arora and Pannu, met DGP Gaurav Yadav and submitted the two lab reports to him, seeking stringent action against those responsible for creating and circulation the alleged “fake video” to defame the chief minister.