The Crossbill News Desk
The political storm surrounding a controversial video purportedly showing Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann intensified on Wednesday (June 24) after the Haryana Police arrested two men accused of conspiring to prepare forged forensic and cyber analysis reports linked to the clip.
The arrests have triggered sharp attacks from Opposition parties, which have demanded a wider probe and sought to hold the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government accountable.
The two accused, Ankit Bhardwaj and Arun Mahendru, are contract employees associated with the National Investigation Agency (NIA). According to Gurugram Police, both men submitted forensic reports in the names of laboratories that allegedly do not exist, The Indian Express reported.
“Ankit had given a report of video analysis in the name of Cipher Sentinel lab. On the ground, Cipher Sentinel lab does not exist. This lab is not registered with any government department and he is not even an employee at any laboratory,” Naveen Sharma, assistant commissioner of police (Crime), Gurgaon was quoted as saying by the paper.
“Similarly, Arun Mahendru gave a report of video analysis in the name of Cyber Yaan lab, which also does not exist. Arun is also not an employee of any forensic laboratory and yet he signed the report in the name of Cyber Yaan,” he added.
The reports submitted by the duo had concluded that the person seen in the viral video was not Bhagwant Mann.
The arrests followed a complaint by a forensic expert who alleged that two senior Punjab Police officers had offered him Rs 10 lakh to prepare a favourable forensic report concerning the video.
The developments have emboldened the Opposition in Punjab. The Shiromani Akali Dal demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter, arguing that the case had acquired inter-state dimensions.
“Only a CBI probe can get to the bottom of this issue as it has become an inter-State case and there is a money trail which needs to be investigated,” senior SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal said.
The Congress escalated its attack by seeking Mann's resignation and calling for action against him under Punjab's new sacrilege law. State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the chief minister should also seek forgiveness from the Akal Takht.
“Mann must present himself before Akal Takht and seek forgiveness,” he said.
Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar also criticised the chief minister, saying, “This is the issue of how an arrogant person is challenging the supreme Sri Akal Takht Sahib.”
The controversy dates back to October 2025 when a video, purportedly showing a person resembling Mann sprinkling alcohol on images of Sikh gurus, surfaced online. The Punjab Police subsequently registered an FIR. In January 2026, Mann appeared before the Akal Takht and denied being the individual in the video, asserting that it had been generated using artificial intelligence and was “completely fake”.
The dispute deepened on June 15 when the Akal Takht declared Mann ‘Guru Dokhi’, or betrayer of the Guru, and ‘Khalsa Panth Virodhi’, meaning anti-community, alleging that he had made false statements. The religious body had cited findings from two forensic laboratories that reportedly authenticated the video. In response, the AAP produced reports from two other independent laboratories stating that there was no match between the person in the video and the chief minister.
The Akal Takht has now urged the Haryana Police to pursue the case rigorously and ensure that all those responsible are exposed and punished.
Maintaining that the video is fabricated, Mann accused his political rivals of orchestrating a campaign to tarnish his image ahead of the state elections.
“Those who have no issue left against my government are now trying to tarnish my image through fabricated propaganda,” he said.
He also alleged that the forensic laboratory was being targeted because “the BJP, Akali Dal and Congress have united against me.”
The chief minister further criticised the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) over posters calling for his social boycott.
“Politics has fallen to a very low level because they have no other way to oppose me. They continuously try to defame me through one accusation or another. Now the SGPC has ordered the putting up of posters outside Gurdwara Sahibs calling for my boycott. Why were similar posters not put up against the Akali Dal or Sukhbir Singh Badal [SAD president] after they admitted responsibility for incidents of sacrilege?” he said.
The controversy is expected to remain a major political flashpoint in Punjab as the state moves closer to the Assembly elections scheduled for early 2027.
The arrests have triggered sharp attacks from Opposition parties, which have demanded a wider probe and sought to hold the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government accountable.
The two accused, Ankit Bhardwaj and Arun Mahendru, are contract employees associated with the National Investigation Agency (NIA). According to Gurugram Police, both men submitted forensic reports in the names of laboratories that allegedly do not exist, The Indian Express reported.
“Ankit had given a report of video analysis in the name of Cipher Sentinel lab. On the ground, Cipher Sentinel lab does not exist. This lab is not registered with any government department and he is not even an employee at any laboratory,” Naveen Sharma, assistant commissioner of police (Crime), Gurgaon was quoted as saying by the paper.
“Similarly, Arun Mahendru gave a report of video analysis in the name of Cyber Yaan lab, which also does not exist. Arun is also not an employee of any forensic laboratory and yet he signed the report in the name of Cyber Yaan,” he added.
The reports submitted by the duo had concluded that the person seen in the viral video was not Bhagwant Mann.
The arrests followed a complaint by a forensic expert who alleged that two senior Punjab Police officers had offered him Rs 10 lakh to prepare a favourable forensic report concerning the video.
The developments have emboldened the Opposition in Punjab. The Shiromani Akali Dal demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the matter, arguing that the case had acquired inter-state dimensions.
“Only a CBI probe can get to the bottom of this issue as it has become an inter-State case and there is a money trail which needs to be investigated,” senior SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal said.
The Congress escalated its attack by seeking Mann's resignation and calling for action against him under Punjab's new sacrilege law. State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the chief minister should also seek forgiveness from the Akal Takht.
“Mann must present himself before Akal Takht and seek forgiveness,” he said.
Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar also criticised the chief minister, saying, “This is the issue of how an arrogant person is challenging the supreme Sri Akal Takht Sahib.”
The controversy dates back to October 2025 when a video, purportedly showing a person resembling Mann sprinkling alcohol on images of Sikh gurus, surfaced online. The Punjab Police subsequently registered an FIR. In January 2026, Mann appeared before the Akal Takht and denied being the individual in the video, asserting that it had been generated using artificial intelligence and was “completely fake”.
The dispute deepened on June 15 when the Akal Takht declared Mann ‘Guru Dokhi’, or betrayer of the Guru, and ‘Khalsa Panth Virodhi’, meaning anti-community, alleging that he had made false statements. The religious body had cited findings from two forensic laboratories that reportedly authenticated the video. In response, the AAP produced reports from two other independent laboratories stating that there was no match between the person in the video and the chief minister.
The Akal Takht has now urged the Haryana Police to pursue the case rigorously and ensure that all those responsible are exposed and punished.
Maintaining that the video is fabricated, Mann accused his political rivals of orchestrating a campaign to tarnish his image ahead of the state elections.
“Those who have no issue left against my government are now trying to tarnish my image through fabricated propaganda,” he said.
He also alleged that the forensic laboratory was being targeted because “the BJP, Akali Dal and Congress have united against me.”
The chief minister further criticised the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) over posters calling for his social boycott.
“Politics has fallen to a very low level because they have no other way to oppose me. They continuously try to defame me through one accusation or another. Now the SGPC has ordered the putting up of posters outside Gurdwara Sahibs calling for my boycott. Why were similar posters not put up against the Akali Dal or Sukhbir Singh Badal [SAD president] after they admitted responsibility for incidents of sacrilege?” he said.
The controversy is expected to remain a major political flashpoint in Punjab as the state moves closer to the Assembly elections scheduled for early 2027.
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