Amritsar: The recovery of over a dozen weapons including double barrel guns, pistols, hundreds of bullets, bulletproof vests (all bearing the initials ‘AKF’) and videos of men being trained in shooting firearms, is an indication that Khalistani activist Amritpal Singh’s ‘private militia’ — the Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) — was still at a nascent stage, sources in Punjab Police told ThePrint.
These arms and vests were recovered from Amritpal’s associates and an abandoned vehicle that belonged to him.
The investigation, the sources further said, has revealed that barring a few, most of those who joined Amritpal were drug addicts or former addicts who were in awe of him because of his “demeanour” which resembled that of Sikh militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the “fancy cars” Amripal moved around in and the “guns” he had access to.
Tejinder Singh Gill alias Gorkha Baba, one of Amritpal’s gunmen, who was arrested Thursday too is a former addict, who had joined the de-addiction centre run by Amritpal at Jallupur Khera in Amritsar just a few months ago, a police source said, adding that he was “promoted to the post of his (Amritpal’s) gunman after training”.
Khalistan activist and ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh is on the run, as police launched an operation against him and his aides earlier this month. Waris Punjab de (which translates to heirs of Punjab) was started as a pressure group by lawyer-actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu in 2021. Amrtipal became the organisation’s chief last year, after Sidhu’s death.
While Amritpal’s family called action against him “a bid to tarnish his image”, residents of Jallupur Khera village, told ThePrint, however, that Amritpal’s influence extended only to the youth, and elderly members of the village had long since distanced themselves from his talks of Khalistan. They also alleged that he had no “traits of a saint”, terming his popularity among the youth the result of a careful social media construct and his image of a rebel.
According to sources in Punjab police, most of Amritpal’s supporters who have been arrested had been unemployed and have said during questioning that they were influenced by ‘babe di tor’ (Baba’s style) and felt empowered while walking in his convoy.
“By being with Amritpal and by joining them, these youths thought that they are part of a powerful gang which may rule Punjab one day. They were brainwashed into believing that they would have their own flag, their own currency,” the source said.
While addressing a press conference Friday, Khanna police chief Amneet Kondal had released images purportedly of the proposed currency and flags of Khalistan, allegedly found in Gorkha Baba’s mobile phone. Gorkha was arrested by the Khanna police on 22 March.
Kondal claimed Amritpal and his men remained in touch with each other through two WhatsApp groups one of which was called Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) and the other Amritpal Tiger Force.
“The AKF was a larger group that included Amritpal, his weaponised guards and other interested youngsters. The ATF on the other hand included only Amritpal and his close security men,” Kondal said during the conference.
The ones who were loyal to Amritpal, were promoted and given their own weapons after training, which encouraged them even more. These young men started aspiring to be in his internal coterie, the source quoted above said.
“Amritpal ke bande ko kaun hath lagayeka (who would touch Amritpal’s men)” that is what they thought. They felt that he is undefeatable,” the police source said.
“Amritpal moved around in fancy cars, had gunmen surrounding him and spoke like a rebel against the government, its policies and what they have not done, which attracted these youths. Most of them are now regretting their decision,” the source said.
Police sources also claimed that the men were given a meagre amount between Rs 2000-Rs 5000 by Amritpal.
According to police sources, Amritpal and his close associates — including his uncle Harjit Singh, Gorkha Baba, Daljeet Kalsi, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala and Gurbhej Singh Gondara alias Bheja — took advantage of these youngsters and recruited them in the name of “empowering them”.
They gave them training in firing rifles and pistols near the Raiya-Naguke neher (stream) in Jallupur Khera village, said a second source.
The source added: “Most of his youngsters held a weapon for the first time.”
A third source said that weapons for his “militia” were sourced from within India, some from Bihar, as well as from across the border via drones. During searches, besides rifles and pistols, 193 bullets for the double barrel, 139 for the .315 bore rifle and 42 bullets for the pistols were recovered.
Police sources also claimed the weapons were being funded by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
“There is evidence to suggest that Amritpal has links with Pakistan’s ISI and is involved in hawala transactions. Funds for these weapons have been pumped in from across the order,” the third source said.
A total of 207 people have been detained so far in the crackdown against Amritpal and his associates, of which, 30 have been found to have been involved in substantive criminal activities, Punjab inspector general (IG) of police Sukhchain Singh Gill said at a press conference last week. He had added that 177 people have been detained only for preventive custody and that action will be taken against “hardcore elements”.
“Misguided and innocent youth will be released after giving them warning,” he had said.
Forty-four of these 177 were subsequently released by police Friday.
The ‘clout’
According to residents of Jallupur Khera village, the youngsters may have given Amritpal the stature of a saint, but for the elderly, he was not a leader.
Describing him as someone who was “aggressive and spoke of breaking the law”, the villagers said it made him popular only among the youngsters who started seeing him as a “hero”, but that he did not have the “traits of a saint”.
Many in the village remember him as riding about on his bike, with earphones plugged in.
“He had cut his hair and did not have a beard. He was jobless, so he would just go around the village on his bike like a loafer,” a 68-year-old farmer, who did wish to be named, told ThePrint.
According to the elder residents of the village, they had never heard Amritpal talk about Sikhism during this time.
“He was like just any other boy in the village. But after his return from Dubai in 2012, he was a completely changed person. He kept a beard, grew his hair, started wearing a pagdi (turban) and talking about Sikh identity, atrocities on them and conversions,” said the farmer.
For him, the reasons behind Amritpal’s popularity were his swanky cars, gunmen around him, and his massive “social media presence”.
“He would say that he is ‘marzi ka malik’ (I am my own master) and that no one can touch him, which is why he became so popular among youngsters who are rebellious by nature. These things appealed to them,” he said.
The 68-year-old added: “Moreover, he would upload videos and speeches on social media, and all these youngsters who are always glued to their phones, started thinking of him as a messiah.”
ThePrint also spoke to a 40-year-old man, who did not want to be named, who claimed that he had worked with Amritpal in Dubai. He credited Amritpal’s clout to ‘Waris Punjab De’ and Amritpal’s uncle, who was a former village sarpanch.
According to this 40-year-old, Amritpal used the already existing base of Waris Punjab De to garner support and his aide Daljit Kalsi “did the right social media marketing for him”.
“He went to Dubai in 2011. There he also used to waste time on social media, clicking photos. His father, who has a business there, would scold him. There he often met people from UAE and then things took a turn and he was declared as the next chief of Waris Punjab De,” he said.
The 40-year-old added: “His associates Daljeet Kalsi and Gurinder Pal Aujla did social media campaigns and through that, he made him bigger than what he actually is.”
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‘Do not want to go back to the era of militancy’
For the people of Jallupur Khera, Amritpal’s talks on substance abuse and against conversions to Christianity — which is seen as a threat to traditional Sikhism — resonated with them at first, but started to lose meaning when he began talking about the “idea of Khalistan and how that is the only solution for Punjab”.
Mahinder Singh, a Jallupur Khera resident, told ThePrint, “We were supportive of his ideas at first because he spoke about the need for de-addiction programmes for Punjab’s youth and how the government has not done anything for the same.”
“He also spoke for Sikhism and against conversions to Christianity and how we need to promote our traditional religion. But when he started talking about the need for an independent state of Khalsa and how we need to come together, we distanced ourselves,” Singh told ThePrint.
Moreover, many people did not approve of the Ajnala incident last month, where Amritpal took the Guru Granth Sahib in a palki to the police station, accompanied by hundreds of supporters, forcing Punjab police to agree to release his associate arrested in a case registered against Amritpal and 25 others in February.
The villagers said that “using the Granth Sahib as a shield” to get their demands met was “inappropriate”.
A member of the gurdwara committee in the village, who did not want to be named, said, “He shouldn’t have taken out the Granth Sahib. Many people here did not approve of that, but could not say anything at that time.”
He added: “Earlier he took youngsters and made them partake amrit, which we all supported, but when he started talking about breaking the law, he lost our support.”
For others, associating with the idea of Khalistan would mean going back to the 1980s, which gives them “goosebumps”.
“We have seen the era of the ’80s and what it did to us. We cannot afford to go back to that time. We want our children to earn well and have a good life and not be in jail. We do not care about a separate nation. These youngsters who get charged up by these speeches have no idea of what happened during that time. It still gives me goosebumps,” the gurudwara committee member said.
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‘This chase is nothing but a bid to tarnish his image’
For Amritpal’s family in Jallupur Khera village, glued to the television to track efforts being made to arrest him, the action against him was nothing but an attempt to “tarnish his image” and “portray him as a bhagoda (fugitive)”
“The government just wants to tarnish his image because he was becoming so popular,” Tarsem Singh, Amritpal’s father, told ThePrint.
“Our son was just influencing people the right way. He was pulling them away from drugs and taking them to the path of faith. He spoke about saving Sikhism, how is that a crime?” asked Singh, adding, “He was especially called from Dubai to come and work with the people. He knew there was a risk here, but he still left everything and came.” Singh said.
For Singh, it was because Amritpal challenged the drug mafia that the government was behind him. “The politicians also cannot see someone so young rise to fame,” he added.
Singh also claimed cases against Amritpal were a recent phenomenon. “He has no criminal record. Registering so many cases against him in such quick succession reeks of conspiracy,” he said.
He added that this search operation to arrest him, too, was a sham as Amritpal always stayed at home, and if the police wanted, they could have easily arrested him from there.
“He used to be at home. Why did they not arrest him from home? What happened suddenly and now he has become this fugitive?” asked Singh.
Amritpal’s father admitted that Bhindranwale was his son’s idol, claiming there was nothing wrong in it. “Bhindranwale was no monster like he is portrayed. He is our hero and we follow his ideology. What is wrong with that? He spoke in favour of our religion and for the betterment of the community,” Singh added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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