Security tightened in Ranchi after terrorist Pannun threatens to disrupt India-England Test

Security has been tightened in the Jharkhand capital after US-based designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun threatened to disrupt the fourth Test match between India and England, officials said.

Pannun, who has been designated as a terrorist by the home ministry, has also appealed to the banned CPI (Maoist) through a video uploaded on social media to disrupt the match, officials said.

The fourth Test will commence at the JSCA International Stadium Complex here from 23 February. The England team reached the city on Tuesday.

"Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has threatened the India and England teams to cancel the match in Ranchi. He also urged the CPI (Maoist) to create disturbance in a bid to cancel the match.

“An FIR has been lodged against him at Dhurwa police station under the IT Act and investigation has been initiated," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Hatia, P K Mishra told reporters on Tuesday.

Pannun has been on the National Investigation Agency’s radar since 2019, when the anti-terror federal agency registered its first case against the "designated individual terrorist", who has been spreading fear and terror in Punjab and elsewhere in the country through threats and intimidation tactics.

Non-bailable warrants of arrest were issued against Pannun by the Special NIA Court on 3 February, 2021, and he was declared a "Proclaimed Offender" on 29 November last year.

Tightening its noose around the US and Canada-based Pannun, the NIA had in September 2023 confiscated a house and land of the self-styled general counsel of the outlawed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) outfit in Punjab's Amritsar and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.