Amritpal Singh's uncle arrested; NSA slapped on him, 4 accomplices

Tribune News Service

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, March 20

Even as the hunt for pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh entered the third day on Monday, his uncle and driver were arrested from the Mehatpur area in Jalandhar.

Editorial: Crackdown, at last

The Punjab Police said they had invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Amritpal’s five associates, including his uncle Harjit Singh, who along with his driver Harpreet Singh surrendered near Bullandpur gurdwara in Mehatpur. A white Mercedes car (HR-72E-1818) was impounded and the police seized a licensed .32 bore pistol and Rs 1 lakh.

Mobile internet shut till noon today

The others booked under the NSA were the four detainees — Daljeet Singh Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Pradhanmantri Bajeke — who have been shifted to the Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam.

Inspector General of Police Sukhchain Singh Gill said Amritpal Singh was also likely to be booked under the NSA after his arrest. “The NSA detainees are not required to be presented in a court of law for remand. The position of these detainees would be reassessed after three weeks,” the IGP said.

The IG said six FIRs had so far been registered and 114 persons arrested in the crackdown against elements of “Waris Punjab De”. He said the investigation so far pointed out the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and foreign-based pro-Khalistan groups, which funded Amritpal and his aides for creating trouble in the state.

“The details of funds received by the outfit are being examined. There have been transfers of different amounts to Amritpal’s aides, besides some hawala transactions. We don’t have the exact figure at the moment,” Gill said.

Investigation suggests that Amritpal was forming an armed unit called Anandpur Khalsa Fauj. The police have recovered bullet-proof vests having “AKF” inscribed on these. “We have evidence that the accused were forming Anandpur Khalsa Fauj comprising close associates of Amritpal,” the IG said.

He stressed that there was complete normalcy in Punjab. He, however, refused to comment on the suspension of Twitter handles of some Punjab journalists. He claimed it could have been done to maintain public order.

Meanwhile, in fresh orders, the Punjab Government extended ban on mobile internet by another 24 hours till noon on Tuesday.

Centre mulls ban on ‘Waris Punjab De’

n The Centre is considering declaring ‘Waris Punjab De’ a banned organisation under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

UK MP’s tweet on crackdown flayed

n British MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi slammed by Congress’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi over his Tweet expressing concern over crackdown on Amritpal

Controversial twitter accounts blocked

n Several ‘pro-Khalistan’ Twitter accounts have been withheld in India. These include the accounts of Canadian leader Jagmeet Singh, poet Rupi Kaur and activist Gurdeep Singh Sahota

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