Ajnala attack case: Challan filed against Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh; trial to begin May 2
Amritpal produced via video conferencing, case to be tried separately; to remain in Dibrugarh jail as per high court orders
The Punjab Police on Thursday presented a challan against Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh in connection with the Ajnala police station attack case.
The incident occurred in February 2023, while Amritpal Singh was arrested two months later from Rode village in Moga. He was formally arrested in the case after his detention period under the National Security Act ended on April 23.
Defence counsel Harpal Singh Khara and Rituraj Singh Sandhu said Amritpal was produced before the Ajnala sub-divisional court through video conferencing. They said the court ordered that the matter be transferred to the Amritsar Sessions Court, where trial proceedings will formally commence on May 2. Amritpal is currently in judicial custody till Saturday.
He will continue to remain lodged in Dibrugarh Jail in Assam, as the hearing will be conducted virtually as per the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Sandhu said a separate trial would be conducted against Amritpal as proceedings against the remaining suspects in the case are already underway in the Amritsar court. He said the court will now frame charges against the Khadoor Sahib MP.
He added that all accused in the case have now been arrested and presented before the court, with Amritpal Singh being the last to be produced. He also said no recovery was made from Singh during the investigation, and earlier claims regarding vehicles and weapons did not yield any results.
Ajnala violence case
The clash between police and Amritpal Singh’s supporters occurred on February 23, 2023, when Singh, chief of Waris Punjab De, along with hundreds of supporters, stormed the Ajnala police station to protest the arrest of his associate Lovepreet Singh alias Toofan, a resident of Tibri village in Gurdaspur.
Tension escalated in the border town of Ajnala as hundreds of supporters, many brandishing traditional weapons, gathered at the spot. Despite heavy police deployment, a large number of his followers from different parts of Punjab managed to converge at the police station after participating in a procession from his native village.
The protesters broke barricades and clashed with police personnel at the entrance of the station, leaving several officers, including then Superintendent of Police Jugraj Singh, injured.
