Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parambans Singh Romana was arrested on Thursday for allegedly sharing a "morphed" video clip of a Punjabi singer purportedly making objectionable remarks against Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, police said.
According to an FIR registered against Mr Romana at the Mataur police station in Mohali, the SAD general secretary shared the video of singer Kanwar Grewal to "harm the reputation" of the Punjab chief minister for political gains.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders condemned the arrest and several party workers held a protest outside the office of Mohali senior superintendent of police.
Mr Romana also accused Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of trying to suppress the voice of people while his party dubbed the arrest as a political vendetta.
AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang attacked the SAD over the incident and accused the opposition party of indulging in low-level politics.
"No matter how many false videos the Akali Dal leaders spread, people of Punjab are never going to believe the Badal family again," he added.
After the video was shared on the social media platform X, Mr Grewal released a video message alleging somebody altered the audio of one of his stage performances to show him making derogatory remarks against the chief minister.
The singer claimed the voice heard in the video clip was not his and it was doctored.
Mr Badal, meanwhile, submitted a complaint to Mohali SSP Sandeep Garg against Chief Minister Mann for allegedly uploading several morphed and defamatory videos from his official social media handle and demanded immediate action against him.
He added that the video on the basis of which Mr Romana was arrested has been in circulation since 2016 and many political leaders have uploaded it on their pages.
"Action should be taken against the person who morphed the video and not Mr Romana," the SAD leader said.
Mr Badal also alleged that the Punjab Police was acting "like a stooge" of the chief minister.
"AAP and its top leadership regularly upload morphed videos as well as defamatory content on social media against us. Police should register cases against them, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, as per our complaint," he said.
The case against Mr Romana was registered under various sections, including 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for harming reputation), 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act, police said.
The FIR was registered on a complaint filed by Inspector Sandeep Singh, Cyber Crime Mohali.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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