CISF constable Kulwinder Kaur suspended and arrested for slapping Kangana Ranaut at Chandigarh airport

The CISF constable who allegedly slapped actress and elected BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has been arrested after she was suspended in the wake of the incident, the video of which went viral on the internet.

Ranaut had said in a video message on Thursday that she was punched in the face and manhandled by a policeman during a security check at Chandigarh airport. The ugly brawl occurred two days after she was elected to the Lok Sabha for Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Police officer Kulwinder Kaur, who was apparently upset with Ranaut’s stance on the farmers’ protests, was earlier suspended and the incident was being investigated. The CISF, which is responsible for security at airports, had also ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The police officer, Ranaut said, approached her from the side. “She slapped me in the face and started abusing me. I asked her why she did that and she said she supported the farmers’ protests.” “I am safe, but I am worried that terrorism and extremism are on the rise in Punjab… How do we deal with this?” Ranaut said.

Another video that made the rounds on social media showed the angry police officer presumably speaking to people after the incident. “Kangana had (previously) stated that farmers in Delhi were protesting because they were being given Rs 100 or Rs 200. At that time, my mother was one of the protesters,” she said in the alleged video.

Earlier today, some farmers’ unions came out in support of the CISF constable who allegedly slapped Kangana, saying that the entire sequence of events leading to the incident must be thoroughly investigated. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha were among the prominent unions that said they stood behind the CISF constable.

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, chairman of SKM (Non-Political) and Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said they would meet Gaurav Yadav, director general of Punjab police, to thoroughly investigate the matter. “We will demand a thorough investigation and tell him that no injustice should be done to the policewoman,” Dallewal said.

(With agency contributions)