Police probe Amritpal’s access to slain gangster Jaipal’s stashed money

Three years after Punjab gangster Jaipal Bhullar was killed in a Kolkata encounter, the police are investigating if the group led by Khalistan sympathiser and Member of Parliament Amritpal Singh had access to the criminal’s money parked in a foreign country, besides the state.

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Amritpal has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Dibrugarh Jail, Assam. The police are investigating if this “secret” about access to the gangster’s money was one of the motives behind the murder of Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau of Faridkot in October last year. They are also examining the possibility of Jaipal’s stashed money being used to pay the shooters and their leader Arsh Dalla, a designated terrorist, for Gurpreet’s murder.

Amritpal was nominated in the murder case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on January 9. Once the treasurer of Amritpal-led Waris Punjab De, Gurpreet later developed differences with him and became his vocal critic. One of Punjab’s most notorious gangsters, Jaipal was wanted in criminal cases across many states. He remained active from 2008 till his death in June 2021. He was involved in cases of drug smuggling, murder, extortion and highway robbery.

He was linked to several criminal networks and had close ties with other gangsters, including Shera Khubban and Rajiv Raja. Over time, he formed his own gang, which carried out high-profile crimes like the murder of gangster-politician Jaswinder Singh Rocky and killing of two assistant sub-inspectors in Jagraon.

Jaipal was shot dead in an encounter with the West Bengal Police in Kolkata in June 2021. Though the police busted his gang, there was no trace of the crores of rupees he had gathered via extortion.

Police sources said Amritpal’s alleged access to Jaipal’s hidden money came up during the investigation into the Gurpreet case. Gurpreet was shot dead while returning home from the village gurdwara on October 9, 2024, in Faridkot.

The police are tight-lipped about the probe. Multiple police officials confirmed that the link between Amritpal and Jaipal and his money came up during the investigation, but they refused to give further details.

Amritpal’s uncle and former Inspector with the Punjab Police Sukhchain Singh said the MP had not been questioned on links with Jaipal. “We have not been informed about this. It seems another story cooked up by the police to keep Amritpal in detention,” he said.

Amritpal’s two-year detention under the NSA ends on April 23. He was initially sent to one-year detention in April 2023. It was periodically extended to two years.