Pro-Khalistan slogans were found scribbled on the pillars of two Delhi metro stations – Karol Bagh and Jhandewalan – in the national capital on Sunday.

The Delhi Police has launched a probe after filing an FIR in the matter. CCTV footage of the two metro stations has been obtained from the Delhi Metro authorities.

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The slogans were suspected to be written by supporters of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a banned Sikh separatist group based in the United States.

A security guard at a building close to the Karol Bagh Metro station said he noticed the writing in black paint on the pillars of the metro station when he came for duty on Sunday morning. “I came to duty at 8 am and saw something was written in black colour on the pillars of the metro station. A huge crowd had gathered there and was reading the slogans,” Bajrangi, the security guard, told a news agency.

“These slogans may have been written at night when no one was there at that time and no one saw who wrote these slogans,” he added.

In a similar incident in January this year, the Delhi Police apprehended a man for his alleged involvement in making pro-Khalistani graffiti on walls in Delhi’s Tilak Nagar area.

In August last year, Delhi Police Special Cell detained two persons from Punjab in connection with pro-Khalistan graffiti and slogans painted at more than five metro stations in Delhi.

Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) criminalises and punishes making statements, speeches, or acts that have the effect of disturbing public tranquility or law and order by promoting enmity or creating fear or alarm between classes of people on the basis of differences in religion, caste, language, or place of birth.

Section 505 of the IPC, on the other hand, criminalizes making statements, reports, or rumours that encourage members of the armed forces or a police officer to refuse to perform their duty, encourage a person to commit offences against the state or disturb public tranquility, and incite persons to disturb public tranquility.