On Tuesday (20th February), an FIR was registered against USA-based Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the Dhurwa police station in Ranchi. This action was taken in response to his threats to bomb the India-England test cricket match in Ranchi’s JSCA International Stadium Complex. The fourth test match in the ongoing series will start on 23rd February. The police have initiated a probe into this case.
Hatia’s deputy superintendent P K Mishra said, “Gurupatwant Singh Pannun has threatened the India and England teams to cancel the match in Ranchi. He also urged the Maoists to create disturbance in a bid to cancel the match. An FIR has been lodged against him at Dhurwa police station under the IT Act and an investigation has been initiated.”
The FIR states that Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of Sikhs for Justice has released a video on YouTube in which the banned organisation CPI (Maoist) in India has been called upon to create a stir in Jharkhand and Punjab to cancel the cricket Test match between India and England so that Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and England team captain Ben Stokes do not play the match.
Ranchi SSP Chandan Kumar Sinha announced that approximately 1000 police personnel will be deployed for security purposes. He also said that the veracity of the threat video will be examined. The news regarding Pannun’s threat message surfaced on Tuesday afternoon as the Indian and English cricket teams arrived at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda airport from Rajkot. They were promptly escorted to their hotel under heavy security measures.
On Tuesday, the JSCA initiated the sale of tickets for the match directly at the stadium premises. The first day witnessed a varied response from cricket enthusiasts. Notably, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun had earlier threatened to attack the ICC Cricket World Cup held in India in November 2023.