Armed protesters clash with cops outside the Ajnala police station in Amritsar on Thursday. Vishal Kumar
PK Jaiswar
Amritsar, February 23
Armed supporters of radical preacher Amritpal Singh on Thursday clashed with the police in Ajnala and stormed the police complex, injuring several cops. Raising pro-Khalistan slogans, they demanded that Lovepreet Singh, alias Toofan, an accused in a kidnapping case, be released failing which they would carry on their protest for an indefinite period.
The Ajnala police had booked Amritpal Singh and his supporters six days ago for allegedly kidnapping and thrashing Varinder Singh, a resident of Chamkaur Sahib in Ropar district.
On their way to Ajnala, the radicals reportedly staged a protest in the middle of the road at the Dhilwan toll plaza in Kapurthala district, bringing traffic on the Amritsar-Delhi highway to a halt.
Amid the breakdown of law and order, senior police officials, including ADGP Mohnish Chawla, Amritsar Police Commissioner Jaskaran Singh and SSP (Amritsar-Rural) Satinder Singh, reached out to the radicals for talks in a bid to end the impasse.
Later, succumbing to pressure, SSP Satinder Singh announced that Lovepreet would be released on Friday after completion of formalities. “On the basis of evidence furnished by Amritpal and his supporters, we will release Lovepreet while an SIT led by SP Tejbir Singh will probe the kidnapping and assault case filed against ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh and his men at the Ajnala police station six days ago,” he told the media.
Lifting the dharna, Amritpal Singh said he would continue ‘Amrit Sanchar’ in Ajnala and wait for Lovepreet’s release. The Dubai-returned preacher heads the ‘Waris Punjab De’ organisation founded by controversial actor-activist Deep Sidhu, who died in a road accident in February last year.
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