'It's Not Bhagwant Mann': Report On Video Behind Akal Takht Action

Days after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was declared "anti-Guru" by the Akal Takht - the highest temporal seat of Sikhs - over an alleged video, there is a new twist.

While the Akal Takht cited two central forensic reports to state that a video showing a person resembling Mann sprinkling alcohol on images of Sikh gurus was not fake, new forensic report relased by the state government has now contradicted those findings.

The latest report, released by the Punjab government on Thursday, state that the person in the controversial video "is not Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann."

The Chief Minister has consistently denied the accusation and said the video was AI-generated.

The Akal Takht, however, claimed it had the video examined by two laboratories recognised by the Government of India, which concluded that the video is neither fake nor AI-generated.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contested the claim, saying the tests had not established whether the person in the video was indeed Mann.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and AAP spokesperson Baltej Pannu said the party had commissioned a scientific examination of the video by two laboratories located outside Punjab and recognised by the Government of India. They shared the report based on the two forensic examinations of the video.

What The New Report Says

Now, the new forensic report concur with Mann's assertion that the person in the video is not him.

The report states that 1,191 frames of the 39-second video were technically analysed, and clear differences were found in the face, height, and body structure of the person in the video and the Chief Minister.

"...the individual in the video exhibits a particular type of stance, whereas reference photographs and videos of Bhagwant Mann depict a completely different stance and posture. There is absolutely no match or commonality between the stances of the individual in the video and those of Bhagwant Mann," the report states.

The report further points out the height difference between the person in the video and the Chief Minister.

"The height of the person seen in the video was estimated at around 5 feet 10 inches, whereas Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's height is 5 feet 8 inches."

The report also notes that the side and back profiles of the individual in the video do not match the Chief Minister's. Major differences were also found in body build, shoulders, and posture.

"Taken together - the facial mismatch, height mismatch, and side/back view comparison - the person in the video is not Bhagwant Mann," the report concludes.

Akal Takht Verdict On Mann

In a strong verdict on Monday, Akal Takht Jathedar Kuldeep Singh Gargaj declared Mann guilty of "lying at the Akal Takht." "Sikhs have no expectations from the Chief Minister, and the 'panth' and followers of the Guru should have nothing to do with him," he added.

Reacting to the verdict, Bhagwant Mann maintained that the person in the viral video that sparked the controversy was not him, calling it a "false propaganda campaign" aimed at defaming him.

Expressing strong disapproval, Mann accused certain influential figures within religious institutions of spreading misinformation to tarnish his image. He claimed the controversy is politically motivated and linked to his government's decisions to protect Punjab's water resources, agriculture, farmers, and youth.

Political rivals, including the Congress, Akali Dal, and the BJP, united against Mann after the Akal Takht decision and demanded his resignation.