Before he surrendered, Amritpal’s uncle held sarpanch, kin hostage at gunpoint for 35 hrs

It is learnt that Harjit Singh, who has been booked under the National Security Act (NSA) and sent to Dibrugarh jail in Assam, entered the house of the sarpanch to dodge the police on March 18, soon after the Punjab Police launched a massive statewide crackdown on Amritpal and his outfit Waris Punjab De.

Harjit Singh, Amritpal’s uncle, being brought to Dibrugarh. (PTI photos)

Amritpal was reportedly travelling with Harjit in a Mercedes car on March 18 when police started pursuing them. Later, Amritpal moved to a different vehicle, while Harjit and the driver remained moved ahead in the Mercedes.

In his complaint to the police, 43-year-old Manpreet Singh said on March 18, Harjit Singh along with Harpreet Singh, who is said to be the driver of Amritpal, entered his house forcibly and took his family, including his brother and latter’s wife, hostage at gunpoint. Manpreet said he was not present in the house at the time and was out in the village to carry on some development work.

“My brother called me at around noon and told me that two persons came to their house and threatened him to open the door. When he opened the door, they forcibly drove the Mercedes car inside through the main gate. Immediately after alighting from the vehicle, they identified themselves as Harjit Singh and Harpreet Singh, uncle and driver of Amritpal, respectively,” said the sarpanch, adding that “Harjit Singh pointed his revolver towards my brother and asked him to open a room for them”.

The sarpanch said that he soon returned home but did not share the details with anyone fearing for his family. “They threatened my family with dire consequences if we revealed about them to anybody,” the sarpanch added.

According to the FIR, registered at Mehatpur police station, the Sarpanch said that the duo forced the family to serve them food. He said that Harjit and the driver kept watching the news on the television and left their house at around 11pm on March 19.

The sarpanch said that he and his family were so scared “that they found courage to come out of the house on March 20 only after they got to know that Harjit and Amritpal’s driver has been arrested”. He then went to the police station.

In this case, police have named Amritpal as accused along with Harjit and driver Harpreet. A case has been registered against the trio under Sections 449, 342, 506, 34 of IPC, and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.

Meanwhile, three more associates of Amritpal Singh, including his uncle Harjit, were shifted to the high-security Dibrugarh jail on Tuesday, taking total number of such people from Punjab taken to Assm prion at seven. Harjit, who officials say helped his nephew gain control over the accounts of Waris Punjab De, is among the seven people slapped with the National Security Act (NSA), which allows the preventive detention of anyone who could threaten national security or public order.

The other two Waris Punjab De members sent to Dibrugarh jail were identified as Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal and Gurinder Pal Singh.
Earlier on Sunday, four WPD members were brought to the Dibrugarh Central Jail. They are Daljit Singh Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh, Gurmeet Singh and ‘Pradhan Mantri’ Bajeke.

Heavy security has been deployed at the Mohanbari airport in Dibrugarh, fuelling speculation that more Waris Punjab De members could be brought to the BJP-ruled state from Punjab, around 2,500 km away.

Harjit Singh along with driver Harpreet surrendered before the police near a gurdwara in Mehatpur. Punjab’s Deputy Inspector General of Police (Border Range) Narinder Bhargav was among the officers who were present at the spot. In a video, Harjit Singh was seen producing his licensed 32-bore pistol and cash amounting to Rs 1-1.25 lakh that he was carrying in a car. The vehicle was later seized and the two men were taken away by the Amritsar Rural police, officials said.