The transfer of Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar on Friday following conflicting statements over an alleged ISI-backed terror plot and its alleged link to the Jantar Mantar protest has generated a political controversy in Punjab.
The sequence of events began on August 4, when the Amritsar city police announced the busting of a cross-border terror module linked to Pakistan’s ISI. While the initial official press release detailed the recovery of weapons and petrol bombs without mentioning any connection to the protests in New Delhi, an exclusive interview given by CP Bhullar to news agency ANI set off a massive controversy.
On August 5, the BJP uploaded audio clips of CP Bhullar’s statement on its social media handles.
The BJP uploaded the police commissioner’s statement with the caption, “An ISI connection to the Jantar-Mantar protest has come to light. The police have exposed this module.”
In the recording, the police commissioner detailed how foreign handlers lured locals, including minors, using digital payments: “They were given the task to perform reconnaissance on police establishments and security establishments, and to make videos of them… They were sent money via Paytm, and after this, they were instructed to target any personnel from the police or any uniformed force.”
Highlighting the troubling involvement of minors, Bhullar added: “Most of the people in this module – except for one – are juveniles, all three of them. And it makes me very sad that 15-year-old children are involved in such activities… Basically, the module being run by the ISI-backed handler… had also sent them to Jantar Mantar. These eight people traveled to Delhi by train and returned from there. They were locally provided with materials for petrol bombs and similar items there, but for some reason, they could not execute any such action there.”
The BJP quickly weaponised the audio, sharing edited extracts to allege a direct link between ISI-backed terror modules and the demonstrations at Jantar Mantar.
Social media handles
As the narrative gained traction across national media, the Punjab Police moved swiftly to contain the fallout. On August 6, an official spokesperson for the Punjab Police issued a statement accusing social media handles of selectively trimming video extracts and distorting the context.
The official clarification noted, “Some social media handles have uploaded videos which include edited extracts of press conference held by the Commissioner of Police, Amritsar… and have presented the press conference in a manner that seeks to associate Pak ISI-supported terror modules with the Jantar-Mantar protests in New Delhi.”
The state police emphasised that the arrested suspects were planning to target the demonstrators, rather than acting in tandem with them: “The press conference of the Commissioner of Police, Amritsar on August 04, 2026, had stated that some of the arrested persons had visited Jantar-Mantar, conducted reccee and had planned to target the protestors through petrol bombs. No statement was made that the arrested persons participated in the protests or that the Jantar-Mantar protestors had any links with the module.”
The statement further warned that appropriate legal action under the Information Technology Act was being initiated against those spreading “erroneous impressions”.
Despite the state government’s attempts at damage control, the controversy severely embarrassed the ruling AAP administration. Sources reveal that while the AAP leadership maintained a sympathetic stance toward the Jantar Mantar demonstrators, the BJP actively sought opportunities to discredit the movement. Bhullar’s unscripted remarks effectively handed political ammunition to the Opposition, directly undercutting the AAP’s public support for the protest.
Thereafter, the state administration removed Bhullar from his position as Amritsar police commissioner.
Reacting to the development, former Union minister of state Ravneet Singh Bittu said, “The timing of Gurpreet Bhullar’s transfer is bound to raise eyebrows. Did his accurate revelations about the alleged Jantar Mantar plot trouble Kejriwal?”
