FIR against SFJ’s Pannun for threatening to turn Cricket World Cup to ‘World Terror Cup’

PTI, Sep 29, 2023, 12:27 PM IST

The Gujarat police have registered an FIR against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the chief of banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), for threatening to turn the Cricket World Cup, starting on October 5 at Narendra Modi stadium here, into “World Terror Cup”, an official said on Friday.

In the first information report (FIR), the cyber crime branch of the Ahmedabad police said that people from across the country have received Pannun’s threat via a pre-recorded voice message sent from a foreign number.

The complaint filed by sub-inspector H N Prajapati of the cyber crime branch said that it has come to their notice that many people received a pre-recorded threat voice message from the phone number +447418343648.

Many recipients of the threat message reported it to the police through various mediums, the FIR said.

The pre-recorded message said that October 5 would not be the start of the Cricket World Cup but the beginning of “World Terror Cup”. Shikhs for Justice is going to storm Ahmedabad with Khalistani flags, it said.

“We are going to take revenge of Shaheed Nijjar’s assassination. We are going to use ballots against your bullets. We are going to use vote against your violence. Remember 5th October, it will not be be World Cricket Cup it will be beginning of World Terror Cup… message from Gurpatwant Singh Pannun,” said the FIR quoting the transcribed message. According to the FIR, “Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a designated as a terrorist by the Government of India and is running an organisation called Sikhs for Justice from a foreign country.”.

Pannun is trying to spread fear, create enmity between Sikhs and other communities of the country and indulge in terror activities in the country, said the FIR, adding that earlier too, he had indulged in such nefarious activities, especially on the social media platform Twitter, now X.

The Cricket World Cup 2023 will begin at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi stadium on October 5.

The threat message from Pannun comes amid a diplomatic stand-off between India and Canada over the alleged assassination of designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.