Spycam, phone seized from Assam jail housing pro-Khalistan activists

PTI

Guwahati, February 17

Several electronic gadgets were recovered from the cells of National Security Act (NSA) detainees at Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam on Saturday.

Search following ‘Unauthorised activities’

• Search conducted by jail staff based on intelligence indicating unauthorised activities
• Spycam pen, smartphone, bluetooth headphones seized from the jail
• Amritpal Singh and his aides are lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail since April 2023

Among the detainees are 10 members of the radical group, Waris Punjab De, a pro-Khalistani outfit, including its chief Amritpal Singh and one of his uncles.

They have been in jail since April last year, following their arrests under the NSA from various parts of Punjab during a crackdown on the outfit.

State Director General of Police GP Singh revealed that a search of the premises was conducted by jail staff based on intelligence indicating unauthorised activities.

The search yielded various electronic devices, such as a smartphone with a SIM card, a keypad phone, a TV remote with a keyboard, a spycam pen, pen drives, bluetooth headphones and speakers.

The jail staff confiscated these items, and investigation is underway to determine the source of these “unauthorised articles and mode of induction”. DGP Singh posted on X that additional CCTV cameras were installed in the public area of the NSA block following the receipt of information about unauthorised activities taking place there.

He further said additional lawful actions and preventive measures were being implemented to avoid such incidents in the future.

It's noteworthy that the DGP did not specify that the electronic items were recovered from the Waris Punjab De members housed in the jail.

A multi-tier security arrangement had been established at the Dibrugarh jail since the arrival of the radical outfit members from Punjab, including the installation of additional CCTV cameras and the repair or replacement of faulty ones.

Amritpal was brought to the jail in April 2023, after the Punjab Police arrested him from the state's Moga district after several weeks of manhunt.

His aides were also shifted to the jail during the massive operation against the Waris Punjab De. Jail sources had earlier said Amritpal has been kept in a solitary cell.

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