NEW DELHI, Nov 20: A case has been registered against Canada-based designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun for threatening people flying Air India and the airline with closure of operations from November 19, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the central body for investigating terror cases, said on Monday.
The case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). In video messages released on November 4, Pannun had asked Sikhs to stop flying on Air India planes on and after November 19, citing a potential threat to their lives.
He had also threatened to disrupt the India – Australia Cricket World Cup final at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday and create trouble at the Indira Gandhi international airport in Delhi on the birth anniversary day of the former prime minister on Sunday.
Pannun, the self-proclaimed general counsel of the outlawed “Sikhs for Justice” (SFJ), released the video messages on various social media platforms. Following this a high alert was issued and investigations started by security forces in Canada, India and certain other countries where Air India flies.
Pannun has been under the NIA’s lens since 2019, when the anti-terror agency registered its first case against him. In September, the NIA had confiscated his share of a house and land in Amritsar in Punjab and Chandigarh.
Non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against Pannun by a NIA Special Court on February 3, 2021, and he was declared a “Proclaimed Offender” on November 29 last year.
(Manas Dasgupta)
