Jagman Samra challenges Bhagwant Mann to prove mask claim in CM's controversial video row
Jagman Samra challenges Bhagwant: Jagman Samra has challenged Bhagwant Mann after the Punjab Chief Minister alleged that the Canada-based NRI was behind a controversial video in which a man resembling Mann is seen in objectionable circumstances involving images of Sikh Gurus. Samra has denied the allegation and demanded that the Punjab Government produce evidence to support its claims.
In a video message released shortly after CM Mann's press conference on Thursday, Jagman Samra challenges Bhagwant Mann to explain where the alleged hyper-realistic face mask was purchased, who paid for it and who allegedly wore it to create the video. He said if such a mask was used, investigators should be able to trace the seller, buyer, payment details and the person involved.
Jagman Samra challenges Bhagwant Mann by calling the Chief Minister's allegations "completely false" and accusing the Punjab Government of misleading the public instead of presenting proof.
Samra also disputed Bhagwant Mann's claim that they had met only once during the Chief Minister's days in the People's Party of Punjab before 2016. According to Samra, he and his family shared a close relationship with Mann. He claimed that when Mann visited Canada, he hosted him for nearly a week. He also alleged Mann had visited his family home in Punjab's Sangrur district on several occasions.
Addressing a press conference in Mohali, Bhagwant Mann alleged that Samra was responsible for circulating the controversial video and described him as a "blackmailer."
The Punjab CM claimed the person seen in the video was not him but someone wearing a mask made to resemble his face. As proof, CM Mann pointed to the absence of a surgical scar on the neck of the person in the video, saying he has had a visible scar since childhood.
Mann further alleged that the video was created in a hotel room in Canada using the mask and announced that the Punjab Government would begin the process of bringing Samra back to India through Interpol.
So far, the Punjab Government has not released any forensic report or other evidence publicly to support its claim that a face mask was used to create the video.
Earlier this year, when Mann appeared before the Akal Takht over the controversy, he had maintained that the video was either fake or AI-generated and could be examined through forensic analysis.
The issue has now turned into a major political controversy. Opposition leaders have questioned Mann's latest explanation, accusing him of changing his stand on the video. Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said the CM was giving contradictory versions, while Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that Mann was repeatedly shifting his narrative.
- PTC NEWS
