Accused Malak Singh @ Malik, responsible for painting multiple pro-Khalistan graffiti at Kashmere Gate Bus Terminal on September 27, 2023, at the direction of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun (head of the banned organisation Sikhs For Justice, SFJ), arrested.• Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) within hours claimed responsibility in a video for the graffiti and also threatened to target Parliament House. With the arrest of the accused, Delhi Police has averted the untoward incidents on the day of the final match of the Cricket World Cup on November 19, 2023, as he was tasked by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun to paint pro-Khalistan slogans at different venues, including Delhi Airport on that day.
Face2News/New Delhi
On September 27, 2023, multiple pro-Khalistan graffiti mentioning “DELHI BANAYAGA KHALISTAN SFJ” and “KHALISTAN ZINDABAD SFJ” were found sprayed under and over Yudhister Setu, Kashmere Gate, New Delhi. Within hours, a video also appeared over the internet, wherein Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Head of SFJ (Sikh For Justice), claimed that Khalistani Sikhs from Canada have reached Delhi to target Parliament House to avenge the assassination of Nijjar, and various graffiti, “DELHI BANAYAGA KHALISTAN SFJ” and “KHALISTAN ZINDABAD SFJ,” have been sprayed in Delhi.
Accordingly, a case vide FIR No. 705/2023 dated 28.09.2023, u/s 153/153A/153B/505/120B IPC, r/w 3 Defacement of Public Properties Act, was registered at PS Kashmere Gate, Delhi.
On November 19, 2023, a team of Special Cell, NR & STF, led by Inspr. Mandeep, Inspr. Jaibir, and Inspr. Man Singh, under the supervision of Sh. Rahul Kumar Singh, ACP/NR, and Sh. Rajiv Ranjan Singh, DCP/NR, Special Cell, Delhi, arrested accused Malak Singh @ Malik, (Age-38 Yrs), s/o Sh. Sukhchain Singh, r/o Kurukshetra, Haryana, who was involved in the painting of pro-Khalistan graffiti on the walls of Yudhister Setu, near Kashmere Gate Metro Station in the area of PS Kashmere Gate on September 27, 2023, on the direction of SFJ Handler Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Accused Malak Singh was also involved in three other incidents of pro-Khalistan graffiti in Haryana before the G-20 Summit.
OPERATION: Considering the gravity of the situation, a team of NR & STF, Special Cell was deployed, and a large-scale manhunt was launched to arrest the perpetrators responsible for the graffiti. Round-the-clock surveillance was mounted on persons of interest, and CCTV footages were analysed. During this course, one person wearing a turban was spotted near the graffiti spots, painting slogans. Finally, it came to light that the said suspect boarded a Punjab-bound bus and got off at Pipli, Kurukshetra, Haryana.
Again, CCTV footages of Pipli (Kurukshetra) were examined, but the suspect could not be traced. Lastly, informers were activated and deployed in Kurukshetra and nearby areas, and finally, SI Naveen succeeded in identifying accused Malak Singh @ Malik (Age-38 years), s/o Sh. Sukhchain Singh, r/o Village Talheri, PS Ismailabad, Distt. Kurukshetra, Haryana, through his informers who painted pro-Khalistan graffiti over and under Yudhister Setu on September 27, 2023. Thereafter, on November 19, 2023, the suspect was apprehended and arrested.
PROFILE AND INTERROGATION: Malak Singh @ Malik, s/o Sh. Sukhchain Singh, was born and brought up in his native Village Talheri, PS Ismailabad, Distt. Kurukshetra, Haryana. He studied up to 8th grade. He has been inclined towards Khalistan ideology since childhood.
In 2018, after the announcement of Referendum 2020 by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Malak Singh started following SFJ videos and messages. Later, during the farmers’ agitation in 2020, he came to Singhu Border, where he came into contact with sympathisers of SFJ and Khalistan, from whom he came to know about various Youtube channels, social media IDs and mobile numbers of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, and other SFJ and Khalistan sympathizers.
Then he came in contact with Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and started discussing the Khalistan movement and the referendum. Gradually, he won Pannun's trust, and then, as per the directions of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Malak Singh painted the pro-Khalistan slogans at the following places:
*On April 5, 2023, he painted the slogan “KHALISTAN WELCOME G20 IN DELHI” with spray paint in the area of Police Station Ismailabad, Kurukshetra. In this regard, a case vide FIR No. 81/23 dated 05.04.2023 u/s 13 UA(P) Act & 120B/153B IPC PS Ismailabad, Kurushetra, Haryana, was registered against him.
*On 05.09.2023, he painted the pro-Khalistan slogans G 20, PUNJAB NOT PART OF INDIA, SFJ” at Kurukshetra Railway Station. In this regard, a case vide FIR No. 48/23 dated 05.09.2023 u/s 13 UA(P) Act & 120B/124A/153B IPC, PS GRP, Kurukshetra, Haryana, was registered against him
*After that, just before the G-20 Summit, as per the directions of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Malak Singh wrote, “G20 PUNJAB IS NOT INDIA KHALISTAN REFERENDUM SFJ ZINDABAD” on a Kesari flag and placed/hung the same near the HUDA City Centre, Gurugram, Haryana
Mr.H.G.S. Dhaliwal, IPS, Special Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, said, during the analysis of mobile phones recovered from the possession of accused Malak Singh, it was revealed that he was directed to paint pro-Khalistan slogans at Delhi Airport and other government buildings in Delhi on November 19, 2023, the date of the final of the recently concluded Cricket World Cup.It was in furtherance of the threat extended by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in his latest videos, in which he urged Sikhs not to travel by Air India Flight on November 19, 2023. Pannun also referred to the final match of the Cricket World Cup in those videos. The accused, Malak Singh, was apprehended before the task and plan of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was foiled.
Finally, on September 27, 2023, as per the direction of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, he painted the slogans “DELHI BANAYAGA KHALISTAN SFJ” and “KHALISTAN ZINDABAD SFJ” over and under the Yudhister Setu near Kashmere Gate ISBT, took photos and videos of the slogans, and then sent those photos and videos to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, which were later uploaded by Pannun on various social media platforms. He also destroyed digital evidence by erasing the data of the mobile phone used for making photos and videos of said graffiti.
Mr.H.G.S. Dhaliwal, IPS, Special Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, said, during the analysis of mobile phones recovered from the possession of accused Malak Singh, it was revealed that he was directed to paint pro-Khalistan slogans at Delhi Airport and other government buildings in Delhi on November 19, 2023, the date of the final of the recently concluded Cricket World Cup.
It was in furtherance of the threat extended by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in his latest videos, in which he urged Sikhs not to travel by Air India Flight on November 19, 2023. Pannun also referred to the final match of the Cricket World Cup in those videos. The accused, Malak Singh, was apprehended before the task and plan of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun was foiled.
Police have recored two mobile Phones from his possession. Further investigation is in progress.