New Delhi: Nearly 24 hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shared on social media an excerpt of a media statement from Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, claiming it proved a Pakistan link in the Jantar Mantar protest, the Amritsar Police said it would initiate legal proceedings against the social media handles of the party.
An Amritsar Police spokesperson said that the handles of the BJP uploaded “trimmed” videos of the press conference, and used them with edited background and extracts to give an impression that the city police chief had suggested protestors at Jantar Mantar had links with members of the terror module busted by the police. The city police said that legal proceedings under Information Technology Act 2000 will be initiated in response.
The spokesperson said that the police chief was making the point that the arrested module members had visited Jantar Mantar for reconnaissance, and planned to target the protestors with petrol bombs on the instructions of their cross-border handlers.
Amritsar Police chief Bhullar had addressed a press conference Tuesday, revealing that the city police had apprehended a city resident called Sukhman and three juveniles who were imparted training on assembling and using petrol bombs. “They were being trained online by an ISI handler on working on petrol bombs and lured for money with the instructions to conduct a recce of the police and security establishments and target police personnel or men in uniform,” he had said.
The police recovered four petrol bombs from them, Bhullar said, adding that “eight people went together to Jantar Mantar when protests were underway, and they were tasked to throw petrol bombs at the protests. They were provided with petrol bombs but could not execute the task due to some reasons and returned via train to Punjab”.
By Wednesday evening, the BJP had posted two videos—on its X and Instagram accounts—claiming that the statement of the Amritsar Police commissioner was proof that an Inter-Services Intelligence module was behind the protest at Jantar Mantar. “Major revelation: ISI-backed module behind the Jantar Mantar protest!,” the BJP said on its X timeline which still existed on Thursday evening. “Punjab Police (Amritsar) Commissioner Mr. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar has revealed that a Pakistan-based, ISI-backed module was active behind the protest held at Jantar Mantar. The investigation uncovered that this module was using 15-year-old minors—lured by the promise of money—to conduct reconnaissance on police and security installations and to plot attacks against them. “Hear the full story directly from the Police Commissioner,” the post said.
Hours after the BJP’s tweets went viral on social media, the Amritsar Police Commissionerate issued a statement clarifying the comments made by the police chief. “Some social media handles have uploaded URL and other similar URLs, which include edited extracts of press conference held by the Commissioner of Police Amritsar on August 04, 2026 wherein facts relating to busting of terror module by Punjab Police were explained, and, have presented the press conference in a manner that seeks to associate Pak ISI supported terror modules with the Jantar Mantar protests in New Delhi,” the police said in a statement.
“No statement was made that the arrested persons participated in the protests or that the Jantar Mantar protestors had any links with the module,” the Amritsar Police further said.
The police spokesperson said that the change in background visuals, the selective trimming of the video, and the accompanying captions gave “a different and erroneous impression” that the arrested individuals were associated with the Jantar Mantar protests.
“Although the audio and factual content of the press conference have not been altered or morphed, the selective editing and the accompanying captions and video (in the URL and other similar URLs) are an attempt to convey an inference not expressly stated during the press conference, represents a selective presentation of an original statement that has the potential to lead viewers to draw contrary interpretation from the actual context of the statement made by the Commissioner of Police, Amritsar in his press conference held on August 04, 2026,” the police further said.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)