Republic Day clash | Khalistan outfit's $2.5 lakh bounty call contributed to Red Fort violence, say Delhi Police

The banned Khalistani organisation Sikhs for Justice's call for waving a secessionist flag at the India Gate on Republic Day and a reward of USD 2.5 lakh it announced "contributed to the violence" during the tractor rally by farmers, the Delhi Police has claimed in its FIR on the 'toolkit' case.

It also claimed that there was a call for "economic warfare against India and certain Indian companies" in the toolkit and that the violence during the tractor rally was a "pre-planned conspiracy".

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The FIR was filed on February 4 on the basis of social media monitoring by the Cyber Crime Cell of Delhi Police's Special Cell, which claimed that investigators stumbled upon the 'toolkit' accidentally tweeted by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg, who deleted it later.

Investigators claimed it was Bengaluru youth activist Disha Ravi who shared the toolkit with Thunberg and arrested her last Sunday, accusing her to be "one of the key conspirators" of formulating and disseminating the toolkit, which was a "detailed plan of a large conspiracy to wage economic social, cultural and regional war against India".

Disha and others, including lawyer Nikita Jacob and engineer Shantanu Muluk whom police allege are the former's associates, have denied any wrongdoing.

In its attempt to build its case and link Disha, Nikita and Shantanu with the larger conspiracy, the FIR goes on to claim that the contents of the toolkit makes it clear that the violence on January 26 in ITO, Nangloi and Red Fort was a "pre-planned conspiracy meant to India's sovereignty and integrity, security of the State and public order".

"It is pertinent to mention that the secessionist banned organization, Sikhs for Justice, based in the US, had declared a reward of US 2.50 lakh for waving secessionist flat at the India Gate on Republic Day, which also contributed to the violence which happened as a result of the tractor rally," it claimed. However, no secessionist flag was waved at India Gate or at Red Fort during the protest.

Also Read | R-Day violence: Man seen swinging swords at Red Fort arrested

The rally was initially agreed to by the farmers union as a peaceful march but turned violence as a result of the "instigation by elements" behind the 'toolkit', the FIR further claimed.

It went on to add, "the secessionist organizations that strongly advocates the secession of Punjab from India as Khalistan, has not only been pushing its agenda in the grab of farmers protests but also instigating people by offering monetary rewards and circulating unlawful material on social media to cause violence that would undermine the sovereignty and integrity of the nation and would be detrimental to public order."

According to the FIR, the toolkit contained actions to be taken before and after January 26, which included organising protests near Indian embassies. It claimed that the toolkit was promoting campaign material by Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), which police claimed is a pro-Khalistani outfit. Nikita and Shantanu are accused of being part of a Zoom meeting organised by PJF on preparing the toolkit.

The toolkit also contained action plans for February 4 as well as for February 13-14 and February 21-26. "There is a call for economic warfare against India and certain Indian companies. Their assets in India and outside are to be made targets for physical as well as coordinated actions," the FIR claimed.

It also added that there was a call to target Indian symbols like yoga and tea while emphasising that certain regions in India should be targeted to ""instigate enmity and divide".