Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Thursday sought to turn the tables in the escalating sacrilege video controversy by ‘unveiling’ what he called the “truth” behind the video, alleging that Canada-based Jagman Samra had orchestrated an elaborate conspiracy using a hyper-realistic mask.
Addressing a press conference in Mohali, Mann displayed frame by frame on a large screen, a clip from another video released by Samra claiming that the person shown in the clip was not him but an individual wearing a hyper-realistic face mask designed to resemble him.
The chief minister alleged that Samra, who had first circulated the videos on social media last November, had got a mask made resembling him. Mann also showed a video clip of a few seconds showing Samra sitting in a car with the “Mann mask” in his hand.
“Today I am exposing Jagman Samra. In the coming days I will also expose who financed him, who was behind him and who hatched this conspiracy,” Mann said.
The press conference comes two days after Gurugram Police registered an FIR alleging a conspiracy to procure fake forensic reports relied upon by the Punjab government to challenge the Akal Takht’s findings. Two persons were arrested in the case.
The controversy began late last year after Jagman Samra uploaded a series of videos on social media alleging that it was Mann in compromising situations. Apart from videos of “Mann” with women, in one of the videos “Mann” is seen sprinkling liquor on symbolic pictures of the Sikh Gurus and on a figurine of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
When summoned by the Akal Takht in January, Mann maintained that the video was fake and generated using artificial intelligence.
The Akal Takht subsequently obtained results from two Government of India-recognised forensic laboratories which, according to the Sikh clergy, found no evidence of AI-generated manipulation or tampering. Relying on those reports, the five Singh Sahibans on 15 June declared Mann “anti-Guru” and “anti-Khalsa Panth” asking Sikhs not to engage with him.
A united opposition has since been pressing for Mann’s resignation.
‘Look closely… he is wearing a mask’
On Thursday Mann replayed another video (other than the one under contention) uploaded by Samra to show that a man wore a hyper realistic mask and did objectionable things to malign the CM. “Such videos are taken out just ahead of the elections to cause electoral damage,” said Mann.
The chief minister said the clip had been analysed by an independent social media user, whose observations he reproduced during the press conference.
Stopping the footage repeatedly and enlarging individual frames, Mann pointed to what he claimed was a visible edge of a mask extending from the cheekbone to behind the ear of the individual appearing in the video.
“This is the edge of a mask,” he said, pointing at the enlarged image. According to Mann, three features demonstrated that the individual was an impersonator.
First, he said, the person in the video did not bear the surgery scar on the neck that Mann himself has. “Everyone knows I have a surgery scar on my neck since childhood. It is completely missing on this individual,” he said, showing his scar.
Second, he claimed the enlarged frames clearly showed the portion where the alleged mask had been attached behind the ear.
“The place where the mask has been fixed is visible. If you look carefully, it can be seen extending from the cheekbone to behind the ear,” Mann claimed.
Third, he argued that while a mask could replicate facial features, it could not convincingly recreate the eyes.
According to Mann, that explained why the person appearing in the controversial videos was always shown wearing dark glasses.
“A mask can imitate the face but not the eyes. That is why in every video the person is wearing spectacles,” he claimed.
‘Jagman Samra had the mask’
The chief minister then played another short video which he claimed showed Jagman Samra sitting inside a vehicle holding what Mann described as the same hyper-realistic “Bhagwant Mann mask”.
In the brief clip, Mann alleged, Samra could be heard saying that such masks had to be only “fixed” on to the face.
“This itself exposes the conspiracy,” Mann said. According to him, the clip established that Samra possessed the mask allegedly used in producing the controversial videos.
“With today’s expose, the truth has come out. There is nothing more left to say,” he declared.
Mann said that he and Samra were never friends. “He is a blackmailer and does this all the time. He had earlier made a similar video of former union agriculture minister (Narendra Singh) Tomar,” said Mann. The CM added that Samra had escaped from a prison in Punjab and reached Canada via Nepal.
He said that he had met Samra briefly when he was with the People’s Party of Punjab. He added that he had not gone to Canada after 2016 and all these videos seemed to be of 2018-19, shot in a hotel room in Abbotsford in Canada.
“A man was made to wear this mask and shooting would have been done in the same room in a single day,” said Mann.
Political conspiracy allegation
Mann alleged that the controversy formed part of a larger political campaign against him. He claimed the BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal had come together because they were unable to politically challenge the Aam Aadmi Party government.
“They have joined hands against me because they cannot defeat me politically,” he said.
Referring to the Akal Takht’s direction asking members of the Sikh community not to associate with him after he was declared “anti-Guru” and “anti-Khalsa Panth”, Mann claimed the response from the public had disproved those efforts.
“They asked people not to meet me, not to associate with me. Yet thousands continue coming to my public meetings. People know the truth,” he said.
The chief minister alleged that similar attempts had also been made before the previous Assembly election.
Rejects Gurugram FIR
Questioned about the FIR registered by Gurugram Police alleging that reports relied upon by his government had been procured through pressure and financial inducements, Mann rejected the allegations outright.
He denied that any money had been paid for preparing the reports.
Asked specifically about allegations that Punjab police officials had travelled to Gurugram to obtain favourable forensic reports, Mann said that narrative was also fake. He, however, questioned the credibility of the Haryana investigation.
“Haryana has a BJP government. The Centre is also run by the BJP. Anything can happen there. Statements can be changed, reports can be changed and people can be made to say anything,” he alleged.
Gurugram police had described the case as a “highly sensitive and significant matter involving an alleged conspiracy to obtain forensic reports designed to deny the identity of the person appearing in the viral video and portray allegations connected to it as false.”
According to Gurugram police, they are examining the authenticity of the forensic institutions involved, financial transactions, electronic evidence and the identities of other alleged conspirators. The FIR was registered on the complaint of Jaspreet Singh, who works in digital forensics and was allegedly approached by Punjab police officials to “procure” reports stating that the alleged video under contention was of a person who was not Mann.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)