Delhi Police Releases CCTV Footage Of Accused Painting Pro-Khalistani Graffiti At Metro Stations; 2 Detained

A CCTV footage of the accused painting the walls of Delhi Metro station with 'pro-Khalistani' slogans and graffiti was released.

New Delhi: Two people have been apprehended for allegedly defacing the walls of several Delhi Metro stations with ‘pro-Khalistani’ graffiti and slogans. Delhi Police on Thursday released the CCTV footage of the accused painting the walls of a metro station with pro-Khalistani slogans.

Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said the two persons were detained from Punjab by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell. Another officer said that their interrogation was underway. The walls of at least five metro stations in Delhi – Shivaji Park, Madipur, Paschim Vihar, Udyog Nagar, and Maharaja Surajmal Stadium  – last week were found vandalised with pro-Khalistani graffiti ahead of the G20 summit. A wall of a government school in Nangloi was also found defaced. Delhi Police said slogans such as ‘Khalistan is a part of India and against PM Modi’ appeared on the walls of several metro stations.

In pictures shared by Delhi Police, pro-Khalistani slogans were seen inscribed on the walls of metro stations that read ‘Delhi Banega Khalistan’ and ‘Khalistan Zindabad”. “Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) also released raw footage of Delhi Metro stations which were defaced with pro-Khalistan slogans,” an officer said.

“Suspected SFJ activists defaced multiple Metro stations in Delhi — from Shivaji Park to Punjabi Bagh — with pro-Khalistan slogans,” the officer added. Confirming the defacement of Metro stations, they were pursuing necessary action in the matter, as per law.

The defacement of the metro stations comes at a time when Delhi is playing host to the B20 Summit India, 2023. The three-day summit started on August 25 and will end on Sunday. The event has drawn over 1,500 delegates from 55 countries.

A purported video was released by the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) which showed the defaced walls of the metro stations. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, spokesperson for the SFJ, had said in the video, “G20 nations, when you will be meeting in Delhi on September 10, we will be organising a Khalistan referendum in Canada.”

On January 19, ahead of the Republic Day, “anti-national” and “Khalistan-related” graffiti appeared on walls in some areas of west Delhi, including Vikaspuri, Janakpuri, Paschim Vihar, and Peeragarhi, police said.