With the Punjab Police on the hunt for radical Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh, Congress Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira has urged Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to not cost the ‘Waris Punjab De’ (WPD) chief with draconian legal guidelines. In a tweet, Khair mentioned that the federal government ought to cost him for the Ajnala incident and never ship a unsuitable message to Sikh youth. Amritpal Singh is on the run whereas his 78 supporters have been arrested by the state police in a day-long crackdown.
“I urge Bhagwant Mann not to charge Amritpal Singh under draconian laws like UAPA or NSA as there’s no terror activity involved. He can be charged in Ajnala incident otherwise it’ll be presumed you’re surrendering Sikh youth to central agencies! Why no action against Bishnoi till now?” mentioned Khaira.
The Congress MLA’s comment got here after the Punjab authorities launched a serious crackdown towards Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh. The elusive preacher himself, nonetheless, gave the police a slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district, whilst authorities stepped up safety at a number of locations and suspended web providers within the state until Sunday midday.
The police mentioned it has launched a “massive state-wide cordon and search operations (CASO)” within the state towards components of ‘Waris Punjab De’ (WPD), headed by Singh, towards whom a number of legal circumstances had been registered.
During the operation, a complete of 78 individuals have been arrested to this point, whereas, a number of others have been detained for questioning, it mentioned. Amritpal Singh and others are on the run and a large manhunt has been launched to nab them, a police spokesperson mentioned.
Some supporters of ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief shared some movies on social media claiming that policemen have been chasing them. A video additionally confirmed Amritpal sitting in a automobile and certainly one of his aides may very well be heard saying policemen have been after “Bhai saab” (Amritpal).
During the state-wide operation, 9 weapons, together with one .315 bore rifle, seven rifles of 12 bore, one revolver and 373 reside cartridges of various caliber have been recovered to this point, the police mentioned.
The police spokesperson knowledgeable that the WPD components are concerned in 4 legal circumstances referring to spreading disharmony amongst lessons, try to homicide, assault on police personnel and creating obstructions within the lawful discharge of duties of public servants.
Also Read: Amritpal Singh Maintaining Close Links With Pakistan’s ISI, Terror Groups: Sources
An FIR dated February 24 stands registered towards WPD components for the assault on Ajnala Police Station, he added. Last month, Amritpal and his supporters, a few of them brandishing swords and weapons, broke via barricades and barged into the Ajnala Police Station on the outskirts of the Amritsar metropolis, and clashed with police for the discharge of certainly one of Amritpal’s aide. After the incident, by which six policemen together with a Superintendent of Police rank officer had suffered accidents, the AAP authorities within the state had confronted extreme flak and was accused of kowtowing to extremists.
A heavy deployment of safety forces had been made close to village Jallupur Khera in Amritsar, the native place of Amritpal Singh, for the operation.
Dubai-returned Amritpal Singh was final yr anointed the pinnacle of ‘Waris Punjab De’, which was based by actor and activist Deep Sidhu who died in a highway accident in February final yr.
Officials mentioned Amritpal Singh has been sustaining shut hyperlinks with Pakistani intelligence company ISI and terrorist teams based mostly in international nations. Amitpal Singh, who had even issued a veiled menace to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has been making an attempt to destabilise the state of affairs in Punjab by indoctrinating and attracting Sikh youths into the fold of his outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’, sources mentioned.
Meanwhile, Punjab Police requested individuals to keep up peace and concord. “Request all citizens to maintain peace & harmony Punjab Police is working to maintain Law and Order. Request citizens not to panic or spread fake news or hate speech,” it mentioned in a tweet.
Earlier this month, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had referred to as on Union Home Minister Amit Shah and mentioned with him the prevailing regulation and order state of affairs within the border state.
The Centre had despatched about 1,900 personnel of the CRPF and its specialised anti-riot unit RAF for strengthening the safety grid. Officials mentioned the Union Home Ministry is “closely monitoring” the state of affairs in Punjab within the wake of renewed actions of some Khalistani supporters.
The radical preacher is believed to be a detailed affiliate of UK-based Khalistani terrorist Avtar Singh Khanda, who’s the individual behind his meteoric rise, they mentioned.
Khanda is a trusted lieutenant of the banned group Babbar Khalsa International’s chief Paramjit Singh Pamma, who’s concerned in radicalising Sikh youths. The trio has been aiming to destabilising Punjab by ideologically indoctrinating Sikh youths with extremist views, they mentioned.
In February this yr, a person complained at Ajnala Police Station alleging he had been kidnapped and crushed by the associates of the novel preacher. An FIR was registered towards Amritpal Singh and 6 of his associates. Police later arrested one Lovepreet Singh Toofan, a detailed affiliate of Amritpal, within the matter.
The arrest of Toofan prompted Amritpal to challenge a warning to the police to revoke the case towards him, and the matter turned ugly when lots of of his supporters broke via police barricades and stormed the police complicated, armed with automated weapons and sharp weapons.
Toofan was launched beneath stress however solely after the police knowledgeable the courtroom that they’d be investigating the matter additional. (With PTI inputs)
