Another Khalistan flag crops up in Punjab, 3rd in 10 days

“Although according to the Supreme Court, hoisting any such flag is not a legal offence as it is not a recognized flag. However, it is a punishable offence if it is done with malicious intent. Moga police are searching for those who raised the flag,” he said, adding that zindabad was spelt wrong on the flag.

Till the filing of this report, no FIR was registered. Inspector Jaswant Singh, SHO Moga city-1 police station said that nearby CCTV cameras were being checked to identify persons who did the mischief.

Earlier, on August 14, two persons had allegedly raised the Khalistan flag atop the building of Moga deputy commissioner’s office and also desecrated the national flag, while their third accomplice filmed the incident. Police arrested Akashdeep Singh (19) while two others are still absconding. Police claimed that the trio did the act to earn easy money after getting influenced from the videos of Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the head of the banned outfit Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), who had announced $2,500 for those who raise the Khalistan flag.

On the intervening night of August 15 and 16, a suspicious saffron flag, allegedly with ‘Khalistan’ written on it, was found placed at village Dhudike of Moga, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai.