Punjab SIT summons Sidhu's ex-aide Mustafa over provocative election speech in Malerkotla

Former Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafa, who was Congress Punjab President Navjot Singh Sidhu's strategic advisor, has been asked to appear before Punjab Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) on February 21 over his provocative speech in Malerkotla, ANI reported quoting its sources.

The notice has been issued by the SIT under section 41 of CrPC to appear before it on Monday after CFSL Chandigarh confirmed the integrity of video footage. Earlier, the ex-top cop had tweeted that there was "no Hindu-Muslim context to what happened in Malerkotla."

Mustafa was booked last month over an alleged speech he made during poll campaigning for his wife Razia Sultana in Malerkotla. An FIR (First Information Report) was lodged against him under Section 153A (promoting disharmony between different groups on grounds of religion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Opposition parties including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at Congress over the speech, warning it against "disturbing law and order" ahead of polls. They had also urged Election Commission (EC) to take action. 

In the clip, Mustafa is purportedly heard saying that he is a soldier of the "qaum" and not an "RSS agent" who would get scared and hide in their houses.

"If they repeated this a second time, I swear to God that I will go to their houses and beat them up," he stated in response to claims that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was trying to disrupt his gathering.

Amid loud cheers and claps, he added, "Today, I am only giving out a warning. I am a soldier of the qaum. I am not fighting for votes, but for the quam."

Punjab elections

The Assembly polls in Punjab will take place on February 20, Sunday. The votes will be counted on March 10. The major political parties in the poll fray are Congress, BJP, AAP and Akali Dal. While Congress and AAP are fighting solo, BJP has formed an alliance with former CM Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's SAD (Sanyukt).