HOBOKEN --Police have determined that at least five people were involved in the distribution of a flier that tried to link a Sikh mayoral candidate to terrorism days before Tuesday's election.

Hoboken Police released still images of three suspects plus surveillance video on Monday, asking the public to help track down the people who circulated the flier. The flier had targeted the eventual winner of Tuesday's election, City Councilman Ravi Bhalla, who will become Hoboken's first Sikh mayor when he is sworn in on Jan. 1.

Monday afternoon's release showing the three people wanted in the case follows the release of footage last week showing two other people leaving copies of the flier on a city stoop.

On Monday morning, the mayoral candidate whose original campaign flier was doctored to associate Bhalla with terrorism, Councilman Michael DeFusco, announced he was offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the criminal conviction of whoever was responsible.

DeFusco, who was a close second to Bhalla in the 6-person non-partisan election, said the doctoring of his flier with the words, "Don't let TERRORISM take over our Town!" was an offense against him as well as Bhalla.

A flier left on car windshields Friday night in Hoboken, associated a mayoral candidate, Councilman Ravi Bhalla, a Sikh, with terrorism.

"Whoever created these fliers deserves to be held accountable for this despicable action that damaged my reputation, insulted the Bhalla family and altered the outcome of this election," DeFusco said in a statement. "Our democracy cannot properly function if people can get away with illegally misrepresenting a candidate's views and attacking another's race and religion in a malicious and illegal way and then having that lie spread to millions on social media."

Ferrante said possible charges in connection with the flier include bias intimidation directed at Bhalla, as well as criminal impersonation, with DeFusco as the potential victim.

DeFusco offered the reward on his own, as a private citizen, not as an official act of the council. On Monday, Ferrante said DeFusco was within his rights to offer the reward.

It was the Friday night before the Tuesday election when windshields and doorsteps in the Mile Square City were littered with fliers that included a photograph of Bhalla wearing the traditional Sikh dastar, or turban, below the words "Don't let TERRORISM take over our town!" in red lettering.

Councilman Michael DeFusco

Sikhism is a religion founded on the Indian subcontinent in the 15th Century by a guru from a Hindu family.

The flier appeared in the wake of the New York City truck attack that killed eight people by a man who authorities say had pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State, or ISIS.

The flier was a doctored version of one DeFusco's campaign had previously issued, which also attacked Bhalla, and included the picture of him wearing the turban. However, DeFusco's flier as originally issued did not mention terrorism, and rather criticized Bhalla for what DeFusco said was a conflict of interest involving Bhalla's law firm and the city's water utility.

DeFusco was seeking to be elected Hoboken's first openly gay mayor.

Bhalla won the election with 4,781 votes, about one-third of the total number of votes cast, compared to 4,116 votes for DeFusco, according to the Hoboken City Clerk's Office.

Under the same November 2012 referendum that moved Hoboken's municipal elections from May to November, voters also eliminated the requirement that a candidate receive a majority of votes cast to be elected mayor, said Deputy City Clerk Jerry Lore. Rather, Lore said, the winner is simply the high vote-getter, and there is no runoff election.

Bhalla had been endorsed by Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who did not seek a third 4-year term. Zimmer, the remaining mayoral candidates, and others condemned the doctored flier.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.