A day after Canadian NRI Jagmandeep Singh, alias Jagman Samra, claimed that he had received the controversial video purportedly involving Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from BJP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, another purported video of Samra has surfaced in which he claims to have exchanged data with her and says more videos related to the Chief Minister may surface in the coming days.
Samra said he came in contact with Maliwal after she was allegedly assaulted by the security staff of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.
“Since then, Maliwal has been speaking against them. She shared some videos with me, while I shared some data with her,” Samra said.
In the latest video, part of an interview conducted by a YouTube channel, Samra alleged that he and others who received the viral video had approached a “Jathedar” and urged him to take notice of the matter.
Related news: Got controversial video clip from MP Swati Maliwal, alleges Canadian NRI Samra
Canadian NRI Jagman Samra, whom Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann blamed, no stranger to controversy
“Jathedar called me and I assured him that I have got this video tested. I would give you the name of the lab and the report,” Samra stated in the purported clip. It is not immediately clear which Jathedar he was referring to.
In the video, Samra claimed to be the grandson of freedom fighter and former Akali MLA from Sangrur Jagir Singh Phaguwalia.
He said his parents were educationists and that he had known CM Bhagwant Mann since childhood. He also rejected the Chief Minister’s claim that a mask had been used.
He said that if someone had used a mask of CM Mann, he should have maintained that stand.
“First, he said it was AI-generated. When the forensic report proved that it was not AI-generated, Mann said that the person shown in the video was not him. Now Mann is claiming that a prosthetic mask was used to create a fake video,” Samra alleged.
Samra, also known as Jugnu, hails from Phaguwala village in Sangrur district — the Chief Minister’s home district — and is currently settled in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.
According to his Facebook profile, he holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Ranbir College, Sangrur.
Samra has previously been embroiled in controversy. He was lodged in Faridkot Central Jail in connection with a Rs 65-lakh cheating and criminal conspiracy case registered against him in Ferozepur on November 28, 2020. He was later admitted to the Orthopaedics Ward of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, on December 23, 2021.
On February 1, 2022, just two months before the Assembly elections, he allegedly escaped from judicial custody after deceiving jail guards.
After absconding from the hospital, Samra allegedly left India through Nepal and later reached Canada. He has also been booked in a few other cases of a similar nature.
The Tribune made several attempts to contact Maliwal, but her response is still awaited.
Case so far
On June 15, the Akal Takht, the highest temporal body of Sikhs, issued an edict against Mann over the content of the video.
The edict came after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj claimed that the video — purportedly showing a man resembling the Chief Minister — had been found authentic by two forensic laboratories.
Close on the heels of the development, the government also arranged a forensic examination of the video.
However, in a dramatic turn, Gurugram Police arrested two persons in connection with the matter and claimed that the forensic report was fabricated.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), while announcing a Dharam Yudh Morcha from July 19, alleged that two Punjab Police officials had been tasked with arranging a fabricated forensic report and that the two persons arrested by Gurugram Police were paid Rs 10 lakh for procuring it.
