NIA court denies bail to SFJ member accused of hoisting Khalistan flag atop the Moga DC office
Accused Jagwinder Singh alias Jagga, a member of the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice, allegedly harboured and helped two men, including his cousin, to hoist the Khalistan flag atop the Moga DC office in 2020.
Special NIA court here dismissed the bail plea of Jagwinder Singh alias Jagga, a member of the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), who allegedly harboured and helped the two men including his cousin to hoist the Khalistan flag atop the Moga DC office in 2020.
Jagga, 30, of Pakhowal in Ludhiana sought a grant of regular bail in a case lodged by NIA on May 5, 2020 based on an FIR filed on August 14, 2020, at Moga City police station relating to the hoisting of the Khalistan flag atop the DC office complex at the behest of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of SFJ. NIA later took over the probe and lodged a fresh FIR on September 5, 2020.
Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. He has been designated as a terrorist by the Union home ministry under the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Counsel for the Jagga contended that he has been falsely implicated in this case, and nothing incriminating was recovered from the applicant.
Jagga’s counsel further averred that he was not named in the FIR as he was neither present at the place of occurrence on August 14, 2020, nor did he give any logistic support to any other co-accused for that day.
On the other hand, Urfi Masood Syed, the public prosecutor for the NIA, opposing the bail application, stated that in compliance with the orders of the Government of India, ministry of home affairs, the National Investigation Agency Act, New Delhi had re-registered the case on September 5, 2020, under Sections 121, 124 (A), 153A, 153B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 2 of Prevention of Insults to National Honours Act, 1972.
The case
On August 14, 2020, two miscreants allegedly managed to reach the terrace of the four-storeyed building of the deputy commissioner office complex in Moga and hoisted a flag with Khalistan written on it. While coming back, the miscreants cut the rope of the national flag hoisted near the main gate and dragged it along with the rope.
It was alleged that Jagga motivated his cousin and co-accused Inderjit Singh to watch the live telecast of Sikhs for Justice, who then along with his associate hoisted the Khalistan flag atop the government building.
Jagga allegedly harboured both the accused and took them to Anandpur Sahib in his car and paid for their stay. While denying the bail, the court of Manjot Kaur, special judge, NIA-Punjab said, “Keeping in view the serious nature of allegations and gravity of the offence, this court does not deem it fit to grant the concession of bail to accused Jagwinder Singh.”