Case against AAP in Punjab over 'doctored' video (Lead)

Chandigarh, July 11 (IANS) Chandigarh Police’s Cyber Cell on Friday registered a case against the AAP in Punjab on the complaint of Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, who alleged that the party and its functionaries circulated an edited clip to “defame” him.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered against unknown persons, with police saying the probe is on charges relating to forgery, defamation and criminal conspiracy.

Congress leader Bajwa alleged that AAP functionaries circulated a doctored video that twisted his criticism of the state Vigilance Bureau's misconduct against a woman MLA, into false support for arrested Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who is facing charges of laundering Rs 540 crore of ‘drug money’.

Bajwa named Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, as among those who shared the edited video on their Facebook account.

"Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora, who is a minister also, should be held responsible for the same post on the AAP Punjab's Facebook page," he said.

Bajwa had filed a complaint with the Chandigarh Police against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, cabinet ministers Cheema and Arora and their associates, accusing them of circulating his doctored video related to Majithia.

Bajwa said the original video, posted on his official 'X' handle on June 25, criticised the Punjab Vigilance Bureau's alleged misconduct during a raid at the residence of MLA Ganieve Kaur, wife of Majithia.

"I highlighted the inappropriateness of their conduct, especially against a woman Legislator," he said.

However, he alleged that the AAP leaders edited the video to remove all references to Ganieve Kaur and falsely made it seem like he was defending Shiromani Akali Dal leader Majithia, who is facing legal proceedings.

"The doctored video was then widely circulated on social media by AAP leaders to malign my image and mislead the public," Bajwa told the media on Thursday.

In the complaint, filed at the Sector 3 Police Station in Chandigarh on July 7, Bajwa had sought registration of an FIR against Kejriwal, Mann, Cheema and Arora and the team of people acting on their behest to allegedly fabricate videos against him.

Responding to registration of the case, minister Harpal Cheema said they were not afraid of any FIR.

“The FIR has exposed that Bajwa has a friendship with the BJP and this is why he has managed to get a false FIR registered at the centrally-governed UT of Chandigarh,” Cheema said.

--IANS

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