Punjab Police has said that selectively edited clips of the Amritsar Police Commissioner's August 4 press conference are being circulated on social media, creating a misleading impression about the terror module case linked to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and the police clarified that there is no association between the Jantar Mantar protesters and the Pakistan ISI-backed terror module recently busted by Punjab Police, according to the official clarification, the arrested persons had visited Jantar Mantar only to conduct reconnaissance and had planned to target the protesters using petrol bombs.
They were not participants in the protest.
The spokesperson said the Commissioner of Police never stated that the protesters had links with the terror module, instead, the edited videos, through selective trimming, changed background visuals and accompanying captions, allegedly created a false narrative, Punjab Police maintained that while the audio and factual content of the original press conference were not altered or morphed, the edited clips presented the Commissioner's remarks out of context and had the potential to mislead viewers into drawing conclusions contrary to what was actually stated.
The clarification was issued after videos uploaded by certain social media handles, including one shared by BJP's official Instagram account, circulated online and Punjab Police also said appropriate legal action under the Information Technology Act is being initiated in the matter, meanwhile, days after the controversy, the Punjab government on Friday transferred Amritsar Commissioner of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar from the post.
Bhullar, who had come under scrutiny over his purported statement linking the Pakistan ISI-backed terror modules with the Jantar Mantar protest, has been replaced by Deputy Inspector General, Border Range, Harmanbir Singh Gill, who has been given the additional charge of Amritsar Police Commissioner.