After NSA, UAPA slapped on MP Amritpal in murder case

The Punjab Police today invoked the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh and other accused in the killing of a Sikh activist from Hari Nau village in Faridkot.

On October 10 last year, three assailants had gunned down Gurpreet Singh at Hari Nau village. Arsh Dalla, a designated terrorist, was also named an accused in the case.

On October 23, the Kotkapura police had added Section 111 (organised crime) of the BNS to the FIR. Charged under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), the MP is lodged in the Dibrugarh jail of Assam along with his nine associates.

The police claimed that they slapped the UAPA following new revelations in the case. Sources, however, claimed that as the police were facing difficulty in presenting a challan (chargesheet) in the court within the prescribed period of 90 days, they decided to invoke the UAPA to deter the accused from seeking default bail.

A senior police official said the murder was a “well-organised conspiracy to create unrest and undermine the security of the nation”. “We have strong evidence connecting all accused to a series of planned unlawful activities, which is why we invoked the UAPA,” he said.