India, June 25 -- Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday denied being the individual featured in an objectionable viral video that has drawn a religious edict against him, claiming the footage was shot in a hotel room in Abbotsford, Canada, using a sophisticated face mask designed to resemble his features.

Addressing a press conference in Mohali, Mann identified a Canada-based man named Jagman Samra as the main blackmailer behind the plot and presented video clips of him holding the physical mask while sitting in a car. Mann said that the individual in the controversial clip is roughly two inches taller than him, possesses a completely different gait and body language, and lacks a distinct mark present on his own neck.

He alleg...