Gurugram Police traces Punjab officers in Bhagwant Mann video report case

Gurugram,UPDATED: Jun 25, 2026 12:21 IST

Gurugram Police have obtained CCTV footage and hotel entry records showing two Punjab Police officials visiting a hotel in the city to allegedly arrange a fabricated forensic report linked to a controversial video allegedly involving Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in the sacrilege row, officials said on Thursday. The two officers are set to be summoned for questioning, and police said they could be arrested if concrete evidence is found against them.

The case has surfaced amid a political row over an alleged objectionable video, after the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal body of Sikhs, issued an edict against Mann on June 15.

Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj had claimed that the video, purportedly showing a man resembling Mann, was found to be authentic by two forensic laboratories.

Mann has rejected the video, calling it "false propaganda" aimed at defaming him, while the Punjab AAP has said forensic tests by two labs showed the man in the video was not the chief minister.

Officials said Gurugram Police have collected CCTV footage and details from the hotel register where the two Punjab Police officials recently stayed.

A senior police officer said investigators do not believe their presence was merely coincidental and suspect it may be part of a larger conspiracy.

"These two officers from Punjab will soon be summoned formally to join the investigation. We want to clarify the purpose of their visit to the hotel and determine whether they have any connection to the accused arrested in this case," the officer said.

"A decision on naming them as co-accused in this case will be taken based on the responses and the evidence obtained during their questioning. If concrete evidence is found against them, they could also be arrested," the officer added.

The complainant, Jaspreet alias Jassi, has been moved to a safe house, where senior officials are questioning him, officials said.

According to the FIR registered in Gurugram, Jaspreet, a resident of Haryana's Sirsa, alleged that he was pressured, threatened and coerced into arranging forensic reports with a predetermined conclusion that the video had been created and manipulated using artificial intelligence and that the person seen in it was not Mann.

In his complaint, Jaspreet, who is associated with digital forensics, cyber investigation and electronic evidence analysis, said that after reviewing the material provided to him, he told them the quality, nature and source of the video were not sufficient to give a reliable forensic opinion.

A city court has sent the two arrested accused, Arun Mehandru and Ankit, to eight-day police custody. They were arrested on June 23.

During their custody, police will try to find out which Punjab officials were in contact with them and question them on where and how the report was prepared.

Investigators will also ask where the printouts came from, about the lab's email ID, the use of stamps and other related details, while trying to establish whether anyone else was involved in preparing the allegedly forged report.

Overall, the investigation is now focused on the role of the two Punjab Police officials, the accused already arrested and the circumstances in which the forensic report was allegedly prepared.

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