Punjab farmer at Singhu sends notice to BJP for using his image in ad promoting farm laws
This report was first published in theprint.in and has been posted here without any alterations or editing. To read the original report, CLICK HERE
New Delhi: A Punjab farmer protesting at Delhi’s Singhu border has sent a legal notice to the BJP, alleging that his photograph was used without his consent in an advertisement promoting the new farm laws.
Harpreet Singh, 36, a resident of Hoshiarpur, sent the notice Tuesday evening after spotting his photograph on the ad Monday. Singh has claimed that the BJP has now deleted the ad.
“A friend informed me Monday that my photograph has been used by the BJP for an ad that they had uploaded on the Punjab BJP’s Facebook page. The photo is from a shoot that I did for abstract art work in 2014 and was available on my Instagram and Facebook pages,” Singh, also an actor and filmmaker, told ThePrint Wednesday.
Singh said that while his photos have been used by the BJP and others for ads on other issues before, this time they used it at the wrong time and without his consent.
“They used the photograph without my consent in a bid to show that Punjab’s farmers are happy with the three laws by showing a happy farmer in the ad. But the truth is that Punjab’s farmers are not happy with the laws and are protesting,” said Singh.
The ad showed a smiling Singh alongside a message with the hashtags #MSPHaiAurRahega and #ModiWithFarmers. The ad in Punjabi read: “Crops are being bought at MSP this season. This season’s rice is being bought at MSP, 77,957.83 crore rice has been bought on MSP, of which 49 per cent was from Punjab. Some forces are misleading the farmers (sic).”
Punjab BJP ‘unaware’ of the matter
In his legal notice to the BJP, Singh has said due to the wrong and non-consensual usage of his photograph in support of the farm laws, he has “suffered huge defamation in the eyes of the farmers and others, which has resulted in mental harassment”.
“My client has been protesting against the laws both in Punjab and now at Singhu border, and the ad uses his photograph and shows that he’s supporting the laws. We sent the legal notice to the (BJP) high command Tuesday evening,” Hakam Singh, Harpreet’s lawyer, told ThePrint.
Singh, who has been protesting at Singhu for two weeks, said that while the ad has now been taken down, the damage has already been done.
“They have taken down the ad and are using a different ad since yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. But the whole country has already seen the ad and people have taken screenshots and it has been widely shared as well. The ad tries to show that we are being misled, and farmers are actually happy with the laws, but this is not true as we are protesting and are not happy with the laws,” Singh said.
The Punjab BJP, meanwhile, denied any knowledge of the incident.
“I am not aware of the details of the matter. Since the matter has been raised, I will enquire into it if such an incident has happened at all,” Ashwani Kumar Sharma, Punjab BJP chief, told ThePrint.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting against the centre’s three farm laws for over three weeks at Delhi’s borders. Farmers have claimed that the laws allow corporatisation of agriculture and fear that they will not get a fair price for their produce.
Farmers have demanded a total repeal of the laws along with a new law on MSP. The stalemate continues despite five rounds of talks between the Centre and the protesting farmer groups in which the government has agreed to make amendments, but not repeal the laws.
Courtesy: theprint.in
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Kannada actress Ranya Rao, jeweller linked to Rs 40 cr gold smuggling: DRI
Bengaluru, Apr 03 (PTI): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence said jeweller Sahil Sakariya Jain played a key role in assisting Kannada actress Harshavardhini Ranya, also known as Ranya Rao, in disposing of 49.6 kg of smuggled gold worth ₹40.14 crore.
According to the DRI’s remand note, Jain not only helped facilitate the illegal transaction but also abetted Ranya in hawala money transfers linked to the smuggling operation.
Jain, a jeweller by profession, was arrested on March 26 for assisting Ranya in the gold smuggling case.
He has been remanded to judicial custody until April 7.
Jain not only helped Ranya in allegedly disposing of the gold but also appeared to have facilitated Hawala money transactions.
"It appears that he assisted and abetted Accused No. 1 in disposing of approximately 49.6 kg of gold worth ₹40,13,59,374. He has also admitted to aiding A1 in transferring Hawala money amounting to around ₹38,39,97,000 to Dubai and ₹1,73,61,787 to A1 in Bengaluru," the DRI stated.
The agency further noted that the unaccounted cash of ₹2.67 crore seized from Ranya’s residence on March 4, as per the ‘Mahazar’ , was likely Hawala money she received as profit from purchasing gold in Dubai and selling it in Bengaluru.
The DRI added that Jain admitted to receiving a commission of ₹55,000 for each transaction.
"The voluminous evidence extracted from two mobile phones and a laptop belonging to Sahil Sakariya Jain further establishes his role in the smuggling of large quantities of gold into India by A1 ," the DRI stated.
According to the agency, in January 2025, Jain helped Ranya dispose of 14.568 kg of gold worth ₹11.56 crore and facilitated the transfer of ₹11.01 crore in Hawala transactions to Dubai.
Additionally, he admitted to transferring ₹55 lakh in Bengaluru.
In February, Jain allegedly assisted Ranya in disposing of 13.433 kg of gold worth ₹11.81 crore.
During the same month, he helped transfer ₹11.25 crore in Hawala funds to Dubai and ₹55.81 lakh to Ranya in Bengaluru.
Ranya, the stepdaughter of a DGP-rank officer in Karnataka, was arrested on March 3, shortly after returning from Dubai at Kempegowda International Airport.
The DRI officials seized 14.7 kg of gold from her possession.
