Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann (File).
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has received a death threat from Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, sources told NDTV Tuesday. Sources said Pannun - an American-Canadian citizen the United States claims was the subject of an assassination bid orchestrated by Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national - had called on gangsters to attack Mr Mann on January 26 - Republic Day.
Punjab top cop Gaurav Yadav underlined the state police forces' "zero tolerance policy" against gangsters and vowed "strict action" against those who might plot to assassinate Mr Mann.
Mr Mann has Z+ category security cover in view of such threats.
In March Seerat Kaur, Mr Mann's daughter from his first marriage, was threatened. Ms Kaur, who lives in the US, received threats amid the hunt for another Khalistani terrorist, Amritpal Singh.
Media reports indicate last week Pannun also threatened the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, a mega-spectacle ahead of the 2024 general election and which will be headlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior members of the government.
Pannun had also threatened an attack on the new Parliament building in Delhi; on the day he named there was a scare - two men snuck smoke bombs, past multiple security checks, into the Lok Sabha, where the opened the cans and one ran at the Speaker's Chair. They, and two others with smoke bombs outside Parliament, were arrested and face charges under stringent anti-terror law UAPA.
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Pannun is also in the headlines because the US government claims he was the subject of a murder bid orchestrated by Nikhil Gupta and an unnamed Indian government official, codenamed CC-1.