Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday accused opposition parties of orchestrating a campaign to defame him through "fake" videos, while the BJP alleged that the AAP government was linked to efforts to procure a fabricated forensic report in the controversial video case and demanded strict action against those involved.
Mann's remarks came a day after the Haryana Police arrested two men on a complaint regarding alleged procurement of a fabricated forensic report related to a viral video linked to the controversy involving him.
In a video message, the AAP leader said for the past several days, his fake videos were being released. "When they could not find anything, they are trying to defame me on the religious front," he said, targeting the Congress, BJP and the Akali Dal.
He reiterated his stance that it was not him in the purported objectionable video, claiming that the person who is seen in the clip does not match his height and physique.
"By making that video viral, I was declared guilty," he said.
Mann said he received calls from many people who are convinced that it was a fake video.
The CM claimed the forensic examination of the purported video had been done. "The BJP has now attacked the owners of these forensic labs," he said while referring to the Gurugram police action.
"By scaring the lab owners with the registration of FIR and torturing or threatening them, they want to get a statement from them to claim that money was taken for preparing fabricated reports," claimed Mann.
On the other hand, the BJP on Wednesday accused Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of orchestrating a conspiracy to procure a fake forensic report to counter findings of the Akal Takht in a controversial video case and demanded action against him and police officials allegedly involved in the matter.
Addressing a press conference here, Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa alleged that Punjab Police officers and persons linked to a private forensic laboratory colluded to produce a report declaring the video fake in an attempt to undermine the authority of the Akal Takht.
"Instead of repenting for this sin he committed, their minister Harpal Cheema held a press conference on June 18 and said that this video is fake," Sirsa alleged.
He claimed that Cheema had cited a forensic report based on the examination of 1,191 frames of the video and argued that it was not authentic.
The BJP leader alleged that inquiries pointed to the involvement of Ludhiana Commissioner Swapan Sharma and SP Jashandeep Singh in getting the forensic reports changed.
"Money (Rs 10 lakh) was exchanged during the meeting and the video was heavily edited to make it appear as if Bhagwant Mann was not present in it and that the video was fake," he alleged.
"They used the Aam Aadmi Party's black money and money from corruption to get this forensic report prepared," he alleged.
"The people who supposedly conducted the examination are themselves saying that they never even had the expertise for forensic examination. They said that they were document forensics experts, that they were given money, and that this work was got done through them," he alleged.
Sirsa also accused AAP leaders of disregarding Sikh sentiments. "These people are willing to ignore the sentiments of Sikhs for money and create a fake narrative," he said.
"The mindset being displayed in Punjab today is similar to the oppressive mentality with which wrongs were committed during the Mughal era.
"Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party and their associates have challenged Sikhs across the world by engaging in such actions and using money to produce a false report in an attempt to challenge the authority of Akal Takht," he alleged.
The development came amid a political storm triggered by the alleged objectionable video over which the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal body of Sikhs, had issued an edict against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on June 15.
The edict came after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj claimed that the video -- purportedly showing a man resembling Mann -- was found to be "authentic" by the two forensic laboratories.
According to the FIR registered in Gurugram, complainant Jaspreet, a resident of Sirsa in Haryana, has alleged that he was pressured, threatened and coerced into getting forensic reports related to the video with a predetermined conclusion that the video in question was created and manipulated by artificial intelligence and that the person seen in the video was not the Punjab CM.
In his complaint, Jaspreet, who is associated with digital forensics, cyber investigation and electronic evidence analysis, claimed that after reviewing the material which was provided to him, he told them that the quality, nature and source of the video material were insufficient to provide a reliable forensic opinion.