Chandigarh: A court submission has revealed that the Punjab government cited a ‘hit list’, allegedly drawn up by sympathisers of Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, as primary grounds for his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) in April last year.
Senior advocate R.S. Cheema, representing Amritpal, read out the ‘hit list’ Monday before a division bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court during the resumed hearing of a petition moved by the radical preacher challenging his detention for the third time under NSA.
Amritpal, Cheema argued, had nothing to do with the ‘hit list’.
Among those Cheema said were on the ‘hit list’ are religious preachers, advocates and social activists, most of whom were instrumental in Amritpal’s rise but are now believed to have turned against him. Amritpal was arrested by Punjab police in April 2023.
Names on the ‘hit list’ include those of Sikh activists Sukhjit Singh Khose, Sukhraj Singh, Vikramjit Singh alias Bhagat Singh Doabi, Bakshish Singh, Pritpal Singh Bargari, Palwinder Singh Talwara, Kagpreet Singh, Hussanpreet Singh, Mann Singh Akali, Harjot Singh, Sukhpreet Singh and Sukhwant Singh Brar.
Cheema also mentioned the names of two advocates, Parminder Singh Vig and Simranjit Singh, who he said were on the ‘hit list’.
“It is claimed that it has been prepared by sympathisers of WPD [Waris Punjab De] who could be anyone,” Cheema told the bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry. The case will continue to be heard Tuesday (3 February).
The ‘hit list’ was cited as grounds by the Amritsar district magistrate on 17 April 2025 to order Amritpal’s detention for a third consecutive year. The earlier term of his NSA detention, which cannot be extended beyond 12 months, ended last April.
“The aforesaid ‘hit list’, of which you Amritpal Singh, constitute the principal beneficiary, is a self-evident and palpably grave threat to the security of the state and maintenance of public order,” stated the grounds for detention issued by the Amritsar district magistrate.
Amritpal, the Independent Member of Parliament from Khadoor Sahib, was arrested by Punjab police in April 2023.
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Hari Nau murder & ADGP’s note
Enclosed in the grounds for detention was a letter by the ADGP (Intelligence) dated 12 October 2024. This “confidential” letter was circulated to district police heads following the murder of radical activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau just three days earlier.
The ADGP’s note said Hari Nau’s name was on the ‘hit list’ allegedly prepared by ‘sympathisers’ of Waris Punjab De, the outfit Amritpal leads.
A close aide of Amritpal and among the founding members of Waris Punjab De, Hari Nau was shot dead on 9 October 2024 while he returning home from the gurdwara in his village. This was within days of Hari Nau putting up Facebook posts critical of Amritpal.
“He [Hari Nau] was known for his active participation in protests following the 2015 Bargari sacrilege incident and the police firing at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan…Although he distanced himself from [Amritpal] last year after NSA was imposed on Amritpal Singh and promoted a counter narrative against WPD on social media,” stated the ADGP’s letter.
The letter went on to add, “It is further learnt from reliable sources that sympathisers of WPD group have prepared a list of 15 individuals out of which Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau was killed and the group is further planning to assassinate the remaining in the coming days.”
Attached was the ‘hit list’ of people the letter said were likely to be targeted by Waris Punjab De “associates, gangsters or any anti-social elements”. In the ADGP’s letter, police officials were advised to “make proper and foolproof law and order security arrangements and take all suitable preventive and precautionary measures so as to ensure that no untoward incident takes place and law and order, peace and rule of law is prevailed”.
In November 2024, Punjab police arrested three men, who it said were operatives of the Arsh Dalla gang, in connection with Hari Nau’s murder. That same month, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav publicly alleged that Hari Nau was killed at Amritpal’s behest and that the radical preacher had been named as an accused in the case.
Cheema, while drawing the distinction between preventive and punitive detention, told the Punjab & Haryana High Court Monday that the chargesheet in Hari Nau’s murder said Amritpal had not been arrested in the case despite him being a “sitting duck”, a reference to him being under detention.
The ‘hit list’ read out by Cheema in open court first surfaced on social media last May and was seen as an open threat by Waris Punjab De. Posted by Amritpal aide Baljit Singh (‘Chacha Baghel Singh’) on Facebook, the ‘hit list’ contained addresses, phone numbers and reasons for inclusion of the 15 people. However, Baljit in his Facebook post claimed that he had not compiled the ‘hit list’ and that it was part of an official document.
He claimed he merely made it public to show how growing differences within Waris Punjab De and complaints of “imagined threats” from Amritpal’s critics had led to the Khadoor Sahib MP’s continued detention under NSA.
Who is Amritpal Singh
Amritpal was chosen to lead Waris Punjab De in March 2022 in the aftermath of the death of its founder Deep Sidhu in a road accident.
Punjab police arrested Amritpal and his associates in April 2023 after a month-long cat-and-mouse chase. Amritpal has since been incarcerated in Assam’s high-security Dibrugarh jail. He and his associates were detained under NSA for alleged anti-national activities.
While in jail, Amritpal was elected as the Lok Sabha MP from Khadoor Sahib in 2024. His margin of victory was highest among all 13 MPs elected to the Lower House from Punjab.
In January last year, Amritpal’s family and supporters launched a political party–Shiromani Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De).
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)