In Bhagwant Mann video probe, 2 arrested worked with NIA, Haryana Government

Two men arrested in connection with the probe into forensic reports linked to a controversial video allegedly involving Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann were contract employees with the NIA and a Haryana Government programme, even as the Gurgain police claim the laboratories they represented did not exist.

The authenticity of the controversial videos is yet to be established and whether Bhagwant Mann appears in them. While the Akal Takht has said the person seen in the videos is Mann, the Chief Minister and the AAP have strongly denied the claim, describing the footage as manipulated.

The Gurgaon police said that while Ankit was working with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in New Delhi for nearly five years, Arun was employed with the Haryana Government’s ambitious Parivar Pehchan Patra programme in Panchkula for almost the same duration.

Ankit issued a nine-page forensic report in the name of Cipher Sentinel lab registered at an address in Kharak Gagar, Jind, and Arun released a 13-page report signed in the name of Cyberyaan Training and Consultancy with an address in Delhi’s Tilak Nagar.

The Gurgaon police’s investigation, however, revealed that neither of the two laboratories had any recognition or any accreditation from any government department in official government records of forensic-examination or analysis laboratories.

“Ankit had given a report of video analysis in the name of Cipher Sentinel lab. On the ground, Cipher Sentinel lab does not exist. This lab is not registered with any government department and he is not even an employee at any laboratory,” Naveen Sharma, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime), Gurgaon, said.

“Similarly, Arun Mahendru gave a report of video analysis in the name of Cyber Yaan lab, which also does not exist. Arun is also not an employee of any forensic laboratory and yet he signed the report in the name of Cyber Yaan,” Sharma added.

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The Gurgaon Police arrested the two men acting on a complaint by a forensic expert who alleged that two senior Punjab Police officers paid him Rs 10 lakh to secure a favourable forensic opinion on the video allegedly involving Mann.

‘Degrees and expertise’

In his forensic report, Arun listed his “areas of expertise” as digital forensic examination, digital evidence analysis, cybercrime investigation support, information security assessment, incident response, long analysis and correlation, digital media examination, information security governance, and cyber fraud investigation support.

He claimed he has “Bachelor of Computer Applications, Post Graduate Diploma in Information Security” degrees, and is “pursuing Master of Business Administration (Information Technology)”.

He also claimed he has certifications, including EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), EC-Council Certified Incident Handler (ECIH), and EC-Council Certified Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI).

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Ankit Bhardwaj, in his forensic report, claimed that he is a “forensic analyst at Cipher Sentinel, an industry expert with extensive experience in the domain, Digital Forensics and Incident Response.” He also said he “holds a Master’s degree with numerous renowned certifications of the industry and has supported investigations for various government agencies and the Ministry of Defence (MoD), specialising in digital evidence analysis, cyber incident response, and forensic reporting”.

Forensic ‘reports’, complaint

In their reports, Arun and Bhardwaj said the person seen in the video was not Mann.

“Accordingly, the available video material, when compared with the applicable reference material, provides a sufficient basis for a reliable identification that the individual depicted is not Shri Bhagwant Mann,” Arun said in his report.

“The observed differences in the side and back-view characteristics provide additional support for the conclusion that the individual shown in the video is not Sh. Bhagwant Singh Mann,” Ankit wrote in his report.

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In his complaint to the Gurgaon police, which is also part of the FIR, Jaspreet Singh has claimed that he was allegedly “coerced” to obtain these “fabricated” reports from Ankit and Arun for which he also allegedly paid Rs. 10 lakh. The Gurgaon police have also found evidence on how Jaspreet Singh used the money.

Ankit and Arun will be produced in court Wednesday, after which the Gurgaon police will question them further to identify others allegedly involved in the case.

The role of two senior Punjab police officers is also being investigated by the Gurgaon police.

“He has named two senior Punjab police officers. We are investigating his claims,” a senior police officer privy to the ongoing investigation told The Indian Express.

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Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Punjab president Aman Arora asked the Haryana Police to thoroughly investigate the origin of the controversial videos.

“Haryana is governed by the BJP, the Haryana Police is under its control, and the entire administration answers to it. They can do whatever they want, initiate any inquiry they choose, and make any allegation they wish. If the BJP is genuinely interested in uncovering the truth, why is it not investigating who created this video, who acted in it, who financed it, and who was responsible for circulating it?” Arora asked in a statement released to the media late Tuesday.

“Entire Punjab knows that the person seen in the video was not CM Bhagwant Singh Mann. Had there been any intention to secure a favourable forensic report, it could have been done through any laboratory in Punjab, where law and order are under our government. The fact that this was not done clearly shows that the objective was to obtain an impartial assessment of the video,” Arora said.