Search on for Amritpal Singh on Day 3, his arrested uncle & aides face NSA

Tight security arrangements at Dibrugarh Central Jail where four close aides of ‘Waris Punjab De’ founder Amritpal Singh are lodged, in Dibrugarh, Monday, March 20, 2023. (PTI Photo)

Briefing reporters, IG (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said the NSA had been imposed on Daljit Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh alias Pardhanmantri Bajeke, Basant Singh Daulatpura, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala and Harjit Singh who is Amritpal’s uncle. The five are currently lodged in a jail in Assam’s Dibrugarh.

“In every city, Punjab police and paramilitary forces are jointly conducting flag marches. Peace committee meetings have been conducted in all cities and all districts… There is complete peace in the state. The situation is totally stable, there is no law and order problem,” IG Gill said.

Reiterating that Amritpal was still at large, the IG said the “police is clear that he has not been arrested so far and all efforts are on in the entire state to arrest him”. Gill said the police will invoke NSA “on the basis of facts” against Amritpal too “once he is arrested”.

Under the NSA, the IG said, there was no need to produce the detainees before a magistrate. “Broadly, a report has to be submitted to an advisory board which, after being satisfied by the evidence, can extend the detention under NSA for three months over a maximum period of one year,” he said.

Waris Punjab De leader Amritpal Singh (PTI Photo)

According to Gill, “the circumstances and activities (of Amritpal and his aides) suggest that (Pakistani agency) ISI is involved in this, and they were getting funding from abroad”. He said Amritpal had raised an outfit called Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF), the markings of which were found on bulletproof vests and rifles carried by his associates and at the gate of his house.

The Union Home Ministry, meanwhile, has asked the Border Security Force (BSF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) to remain alert. An officer said the message has been sent to all units of BSF and SSB, along with two pictures of Amritpal — with and without his turban.

“There is a possibility that he may try to cross the India-Nepal border or International Border in Punjab. They have been asked to be alert and sensitise all personnel deployed in border posts,” the officer said. All airports and seaports have also been alerted.

At the media briefing, IG Gill said as many as 114 people linked to Waris Punjab De have been rounded up in six cases registered between February 16 to March 19. These, he said, include the FIR registered on February 24 in connection with the attack on the Ajnala police station.

Bhagwant Singh alias Pardhan Mantri Bajeke before (right) and after he joined Waris Punjab De.

The cases, the IG said, pertained to offences such as spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel, and interfering and obstructing public servants from discharge of duties, among others, apart from sections under the Arms Act.

On foreign funding, the IG said the accused received money through “hawala in small amounts” from various sources, which collectively became a “big amount”.

He said the police have also taken possession of four vehicles — a Mercedes, two Ford Endeavour SUVs and an Isuzu. The owner of the Isuzu, identified as Manpreet Singh, was among those rounded up, Gill said. The IG said police were investigating the source of money used for purchasing the vehicles as their owners “did not have resources to afford” them.

According to the IG, the police also recovered nine rifles and a revolver alongwith 430 cartridges.

Asked why the police acted against Amritpal only on March 18, more than three weeks after the attack on the police station, IG Gill said, “Evidence collection, planning takes time… (a) holistic picture has to be seen, all facts have to be seen, the police have to satisfy themselves plus it is also to be seen what could be the implications, and only then action is taken.”

Asked about the suspension of Twitter accounts, Gill declined to comment saying it was part of a “holistic” approach and that he did not have the details. “I would request the citizens of Punjab not to pay attention to any kind of fake news or rumours because many people are trying to spread (them),” he said.