Chandigarh: Fugitive radical preacher and Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh had been concentrating on drug addicts and rogue ex-servicemen to assist him construct a gang that may very well be simply reworked right into a terrorist outfit, officers right here stated on Thursday.
Giving particulars of his journey and plans that he was prone to execute on the behest of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), they stated Amritpal Singh, upon his return from Dubai, began a drug de-addiction middle at his village Jallupur Kehra in Punjab’s Amritsar district.
In a simultaneous operation, he alongside along with his males began on the lookout for ex-servicemen who had been retired from the Army for dangerous habits in order that they may very well be used for imparting arms coaching, the officers stated.
Immediately after his return final 12 months and he took over the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit after the dying of actor-activist Deep Sidhu, Amritpal Singh had a canopy of two non-public safety officers, and by early this 12 months, the quantity had gone as much as 16.
The shocking half was that seven of his private safety officers have been kids, who had joined his drug de-addiction centre for rehabilitation, the officers stated, including that in their keep there for therapy they’d been imparted coaching.
The kids, admitted on the de-addiction centre, have been brainwashed and pushed in the direction of gun tradition and likewise incited to decide on the trail of slain terrorist Dilawar Singh, who blew himself up and killed former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, they stated.
Targeting rogue ex-servicemen was useful for the pro-Khalistan preacher as they already had arms licences which may assist his organisation to evade the regulation, the officers stated.
Two such ex-servicemen, recognized as Varinder Singh of the 19 Sikhs and Talwinder Singh of the third Armoured Punjab, have been instrumental in offering arms coaching to the children, who have been hooked on medicine, they stated. The licences have been cancelled by the administration subsequently and Varinder Singh was arrested whereas Taliwinder Singh remains to be at giant, the officers stated.
Security businesses had raised a crimson flag after intelligence inputs urged that Amritpal Singh was utilizing drug de-addiction facilities and a gurudwara for stocking weapons in addition to getting ready kids to hold out suicide assaults, the officers stated.
A thick file ready with inputs from numerous safety businesses claimed that Amritpal Singh was primarily engaged in getting ready the children to turn into ‘Khadkoos’ (terrorists).
During the investigation arms and ammunition meant for the so-called Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF), a creation of Amritpal Singh, have been seized. Uniforms and jackets have been additionally confiscated by police, the officers stated.
They added that the weapons and ammunition seized from the novel Sikh preacher’s automotive additionally bore ‘AKF’ markings on them. The officers stated weapons have been being saved in a number of de-addiction facilities run by ‘Waris Punjab De’ in addition to on the Jallupur Khera Gurdwara in Amritsar.
Amritpal Singh had attended a ‘Shaheedi Samagam’ of killed terrorists the place he termed them, martyrs of the Panth, promoted gun tradition, and glorified using weapons.
The preacher is on the run after the Punjab Police arrested a number of of his supporters in a serious crackdown that started weeks after the storming of the Ajnala police station close to Amritsar to safe the discharge of an arrested affiliate. The episode raised fears over the opportunity of the return of Khalistani militancy to the state that borders Pakistan.
