Punjab Congress leaders on Thursday said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s claim of a “prosthetic mask” being used to hide the identify of the person in the controversial video was a “lame afterthought”.Reacting to the CM’s claim on Thursday that a prosthetic mask and sunglasses were used to hide the real identity of the person in the video, PPCC chief Amrinder Raja Warring said Mann was “defending the indefensible”.“The CM must resign immediately and appear before the Akal Takht. He is both guilty and defiant and the more he shows his defiance, the more his guilt is established, and people are getting convinced that he has a lot to hide,” Warring added.The Congress leader ridiculed Mann’s defence of someone wearing a mask to look like him. “I won’t be surprised if Mann comes with some other lame defence tomorrow,” he said, while remarking that the CM’s advisers were taking him for a ride with silly and funny defences like today’s.Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa alleged that the state government attempted to orchestrate a cover-up through a fabricated forensic report in connection with the controversial video purportedly showing the CM committing sacrilege.Bajwa said the alleged effort to procure a false forensic report has completely demolished the government’s defence and strengthened public belief that the individual seen in the viral video was indeed Mann. Instead of coming clean and allowing an impartial investigation, the government allegedly chose to manipulate evidence and manufacture a narrative to shield the CM from accountability.He said the controversy was no longer limited to the sacrilege allegations in the video. It has now escalated into a far more serious issue involving an alleged conspiracy to obstruct justice, suppress facts and mislead the people of Punjab.Bajwa also demanded a high-level judicial inquiry under the supervision of a sitting or retired high court judge to uncover the full truth behind the episode and identify every individual involved in the alleged cover-up.