The fourth Test of the India-England series will start from Friday in Ranchi. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is on the Indian government’s list of terrorists living in the US, has been accused of threatening to cancel the match. Indian news agency PTI reported that the Jharkhand Police has registered an FIR (First Information Report) against Gurpatwant Singh.
In July 2020, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs declared Gurpatwant a terrorist and requested that he be placed on the Interpol Red List of Criminals. Gurpatwant Singh requested the banned CPI (Maoist) in a video message to disrupt the fourth Test, officials said. This match will be held at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.
DSP PK Mishra of Hatia town police on the outskirts of Ranchi told reporters, “Gurpatwant Singh has threatened England and India to cancel the match in Ranchi. He also requested the CPI (Maoist) to disrupt the cancellation of the match. An FIR has been registered against him at the Dhurwa police station under the Information Technology Act and investigations are on.’
He also said that security has been increased around the fourth Test. Ranchi Police SSP Chandan Kumar Sinha said that around 1,000 policemen will be deployed in the fourth Test to ensure security.
Another Indian media outlet Times of India reported that a male voice in the video claimed to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. He requested Maoist commander Ravindra Ganjhu to create chaos in the field on the day of the match. He spoke of hoisting the Maoist and Khalistan flags in the fields to protest against the land grabbing of tribals by the Indian government in Jharkhand and the grabbing of farmers’ land in Punjab. The person who said these things in the video also told England captain Ben Stokes to go back home.
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Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a Sikh of Indian origin. He is a citizen of USA and Canada. Founder of an organization called ‘Sikhs for Justice’. This organization is banned in India. He is vocal in favor of establishing an independent Sikh state of Khalistan through this organization. For that purpose he campaigned from abroad.
