Gurugram Police on Thursday said they have found CCTV footage showing two Punjab Police officials visiting a hotel in the city. Investigators suspect the visit may be linked to an attempt to arrange a "fake" forensic report in connection with the controversial video row involving Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Police officials said the two Punjab cops may soon be called for questioning. They added that if evidence clearly shows their role in the case, they could also face arrest.
The matter has sparked a major political controversy over an alleged objectionable video linked to Mann. On June 15, the Akal Takht had issued an edict against the Punjab chief minister over the issue.
The directive came after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj claimed that two forensic labs had found the video — said to show a man resembling Mann — to be genuine.
Mann, however, has dismissed the video as fake and called it a conspiracy to malign him. The Punjab Aam Aadmi Party has also maintained that forensic reports from two labs showed the man seen in the clip was not the chief minister.
According to Gurugram Police, they have collected CCTV footage and hotel entry records showing that the two Punjab Police officials had recently stayed there.
A senior police officer said investigators do not believe the officers’ presence at the hotel was accidental. He said it may be part of a larger conspiracy and that police are trying to understand the full chain of events.
The officer said the two officials will be formally asked to join the investigation. Police want to know why they came to the hotel and whether they had any connection with the accused already arrested in the case.
He added that the decision on whether to name them as co-accused will depend on what comes out during questioning and the evidence gathered. If strong proof emerges, legal action, including arrest, may follow.
Meanwhile, the complainant in the case, Jaspreet alias Jassi, has been shifted to a safe house. Senior police officers are currently questioning him there, officials said.
As per the FIR filed in Gurugram, Jaspreet — a resident of Sirsa in Haryana — alleged that he was pressured and threatened to help secure forensic reports with a pre-decided conclusion. The reports were allegedly meant to say that the video had been generated or altered using artificial intelligence and that the person in it was not CM Mann.
In his complaint, Jaspreet, who works in digital forensics, cyber investigation and electronic evidence analysis, said he had examined the material given to him but found it too poor in quality and source to give any reliable forensic opinion.
Officials said a city court has sent the two arrested accused — Arun Mehandru and Ankit — to eight days of police custody. They were arrested on June 23.
During the remand period, police will question them about which Punjab officials were in touch with them and what role they may have played in the case.
Investigators will also try to find out where and how the alleged forensic report was prepared, where the printouts came from, which lab email ID was used, and how stamps were arranged. Police are also looking into whether more people were involved in preparing the allegedly forged report.
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