NSA slapped as Amritpal Singh seen as ISI pawn to revive militancy in Punjab - Times of India

NEW DELHI: The National Security Act was invoked against self-styled Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh as he had designs to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere of Punjab, which intelligence sources said could be gauged from his indulgence in abduction and assault of another Sikh Varinder Singh earlier this year, his open defiance of the authorities during protests in Ajnala including not hesitating from injuring police personnel, and his role in the vandalism of gurdwaras at Kapurthala and Jalandhar in December 2022 in the name of enforcing Sikh puritanism.
As for why Waaris Punjab De chief Amritpal was sent to the central jail in Dibrugarh, Assam, soon after his arrest, sources said this was done to rule out the possibility of a jailbreak with the support of like-minded Sikh prisoners or gangsters incarcerated in prisons across Punjab or other states in north India. Nine of Amritpal’s aides arrested earlier have been packed off to Assam.
Security agencies and Punjab Police feared that had Amritpal or his aides been imprisoned in Punjab, they would have radicalised other jailed criminals and associated them with his private army, Anandpur Khalsa Fauj.
Given the defiant protests in Ajnala, it was apprehended that Amritpal’s supporters could create a law and order situation by mobilising support against his arrest. Last but not the least, Punjab Police and agencies felt that Amritpal and his aides, if left in Punjab’s jails, would run their criminal activities from behind the bars, as many gangsters have been doing.

Dibrugarh central jail is considered one of safest prisons in the northeast. Assam government has further beefed up jail security in view of the arrival of its latest high-profile inmate.

02:16

NSA invoked against Amritpal Singh, likely to be shifted to Dibrugarh jail

Sources said NSA was slapped against Amritpal as he is seen as a deliberate plant by Pakistan’s ISI to whip up pro-Khalistan sentiments and revive militancy in Punjab. He is said to have been trained by ISI in Georgia before landing in India from Dubai last year. Agencies here believe he was being funded by ISI to provide shelter to terrorists here and facilitate the supply of weapons by drones into Punjab.
Another ground for invoking NSA against Amritpal is that he had vitiated the communal atmosphere by delivering provocative speeches against Jesus Christ and Hindu Gods. During one of his speeches days before Punjab Police’s crackdown, he had asserted that Sikhs involved in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala were used by “tilak-dharis” to kill a Sikh.

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Amritpal Singh brought to Dibrugarh, taken to jail from airport

Amritpal is also involved in arms cases and faces charges of using youths for violence and promoting gun culture by maintaining a private militia, Anandpur Khalsa Fauj or AKF. He is accused of defying the orders of the government of Punjab not to display weapons in open, many of which are sourced illegally. Also, Amritpal and his aides would allegedly beat up youths in the so-called drug de-addiction centres run by WPD if they did not toe the outfit’s radical line.
Another factor that attracted NSA against Amritpal is his alleged link with proscribed outfit Sikhs for Justice, which has come in open support of WPD in the wake of crackdown on Amritpal and his aides, and UK-based pro-Khalistan elements like Avtar Singh Khanda.

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NSA slapped as Amritpal Singh seen as ISI pawn to revive militancy in Punjab - Times of India
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