Even as the Punjab Police registered an FIR against the ISI-backed Khalistan ideologue over his continued attempts to promote violence in the state and his recent assassination threat against the Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday warned Gurpatwant Singh Pannu against any attempt to disturb the state’s peace, stability and communal harmony.

Asserting that any bid by the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and its self-styled General Counsel to create trouble in Punjab would be countered with the full might of his government, the CM said, “Nobody will be allowed to disturb the hard-earned peace of Punjab and again plunge our people into the dark abyss of the terrorism days, which took thousands of innocent lives,” Amarinder, warning of a befitting response to SFJ’s disruptive and divisive acts.

Noting that as the land of the Gurus, who had always propagated the ideology of oneness of humanity, Punjab was home to all people, regardless of religion, caste and creed, the CM said Pannu’s pathetic attempts to once again fan hatred, divisiveness and violence in the name of religion and in the garb of a peaceful secessionist campaign for the attainment of Khalistan has already been strongly repudiated by the people of Punjab and India, who want to live and prosper in peace. All political leaders and parties had condemned Pannu’s Pak ISI funded campaign for a separate nation, the CM noted.

The CM’s strong warning to Pannu came even as the Punjab Police on Monday registered an FIR against the SFJ leader for issuing an assassination threat against the former through a video posted on SFJ’s Facebook page.

The FIR (no. 34) has been registered against Pannu, his associates, and SFJ members at State Cyber Crime Police Station SAS Nagar, under Sections 10 (a) and 13 (1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, besides sections 153, 153A IPC and Section-124 A of IPC, disclosed DGP Dinkar Gupta, adding that Pannu had been found promoting violent extremist action and threatening assassination of the CM, an elected constitutional head of government of the state of Punjab.

Citing preliminary investigations into the video posted on 28 August, the DGP said the said video clearly suggested a criminal conspiracy against the CM, who was shown in the video as being targeted with bullets by a gun. Further investigations were underway to unearth the complete conspiracy, he added.

The SFJ had in July issued a threat against Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur. The threat had claimed that the outfit will not allow the Himachal CM to hoist the national flag on the Independence Day. The Himachal Police had then registered an FIR against Pannu.

Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a pro-Khalistani outfit based in US, was declared as ‘Unlawful Association’ by the Union government in July 2019.