Chandigarh: Gang activities, stolen cash and gold, a failed business and loads of debt—this is what the life of Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh was made of in Dubai prior to 2022, if an audio released by senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia is to be believed.
In 2022, Amritpal landed in Punjab to transform into a self-styled preacher-activist, openly espousing the cause of an autonomous Sikh state as head of the hardliner outfit Waaris Punjab De. Last year, he won the assembly polls beating his nearest rival by a huge margin. He fought the polls from jail, being in preventive detention under the National Security Act since his arrest in April 2023.
According to the 56-minute audio released by Majithia at a press conference in Chandigarh last week and posted on X Friday, Amritpal had strong connections with slain gangster Jaipal Bhullar and was actively involved in his work, including harbouring his associates and dealing in illegal weapons.
In the audio in Punjabi language, purported to be of Amritpal, he claims to have had a “share” in the cash and gold looted by Bhullar, and of having procured a pistol “for a specific purpose”. He also says that if he ever needed money, “stealing a cash van” was not a difficult task for him.
The audio is purported to be of a telephonic conversation between Amritpal and Sukhpreet Singh Harinau, a Faridkot resident, when both were working in Dubai for the same transport company in 2021.
The recording was dismissed as having been generated using artificial intelligence (AI) by Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh, who told mediapersons that it was an attempt to “malign” his son, whose rising popularity was becoming intolerable for the SAD, a political party believed to be on the decline in Punjab.
Tarsem also alleged that Majithia was responsible for widespread drug addiction in Punjab and was against Amritpal because he was trying to wean people away from drugs and bring them closer to religion.
Advocate Imaan Singh Khara, who is representing Amritpal, reiterated Tarsem’s words Saturday. He told the media that “there was no doubt that the audio recording was fake”, and he would be seeking instructions from Amritpal regarding the further course of action. He added that all options, including filing of a defamation case against Majithia, would be discussed.
According to Khara, one of the prime reasons Majithia was targeting Amritpal repeatedly was because he wanted to get his own security enhanced. “On multiple occasions, he has moved the courts of law to enhance his security, as well as written to the Punjab Police for the same, on the grounds that he is speaking against Amritpal,” he asserted.
However, reacting to Tarsem, Sukhpreet Friday swore to the authenticity of the audio while talking to the media.
“This conversation is of June 2021 between me and Amritpal. We had been working together since 2018 and I was to leave for Canada in a few days. There was a large amount of money, almost 36,000 dirhams, which Amritpal and his company owed me. I had called him to ask for that money. He promised to pay some of the amount but went on to gloat about his contacts with gangster Jaipal Bhullar and his involvement in illegal activities,” he said.
Majithia Monday also released to the media a video, purportedly of Amritpal’s elder brother Harpreet, sitting in a vehicle along with another person, both consuming drugs.
“Every time I speak up against Amritpal, his father starts levelling allegations against me about my involvement in the drug trade. Before pointing fingers at others, Amritpal’s father should explain the conduct of his own sons. If Amritpal claims to bring people out of drug addiction, then he should work on his own brother first,” said Majithia.
Khara told reporters Monday that the person shown in the video was not Amritpal’s brother. “Nothing is clear from this video. In fact, it seems as if Bikram Majithia is the one who is taking drugs in the video,” he said.
Harpreet was arrested by the Punjab Police last July for possession of drugs in Jalandhar.
Amritpal is lodged at Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the NSA for the third year running and faces a dozen cases in Punjab, ranging from kidnapping to murder. The term of his detention was extended for one more year this month.
Also Read: Punjab govt to extend Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh’s NSA detention for 3rd time
What the audio says
In the August of 2022, Amritpal, then a little-known Sikh businessman, landed in Punjab from Dubai after being made the head of Waris Punjab De, following the death of the outfit’s founder, actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu.
Last week, on 21 April, Majithia put Amritpal’s alleged chequered past under the spotlight by releasing the clips of the 2021 phone conversation at a press meet, and then put out the entire 56-minute audio on X Friday.
In the recordings, the voice identified as Amritpal’s by Majithia tells Sukhpreet that he had share in a loot undertaken by Bhullar, and that he would soon get it.
“…it was a game involving Rs 40 lakh, out of which my share was Rs 10 lakh… while Jaipal was alive, I never asked for my money… in fact, I spent money on his men when they came here… I made them stay in rooms…” the voice says.
Bhullar, one of the most dreaded gangsters in Punjab, was killed in an encounter by a joint team of the Punjab and West Bengal Police in June 2021. Wanted in dozens of cases of robbery, drug smuggling and abduction, he had managed to elude the police for over eight years.
The son of a junior policeman in Punjab, Bhullar was a master of disguise and is said to have masterminded the Rs 1.33-crore cash van robbery in Banur near Chandigarh in 2017, and 30 kg gold heist at a Ludhiana firm in 2020.
The voice in the audio further says: “After Jaipal was killed in an encounter… those persons with him who had the money… and some gold… called me and asked me what to do with the money… when I asked them to send it to me, they told me that everyone has to lie low because Jaipal has been killed only recently and changing the money will not be easy as everything was being tracked…”
“Now I asked him to make some arrangements, and he said he would try and send me dollars through someone in America,” it adds.
“We have bought two apartments in Delhi… with that money… now with Jaipal dead those in whose names they were bought will never return them… the others I don’t even know… I came in touch with them only two years ago… I came in touch with them through Shera and Bagga… I had told Jaipal to hide… but he took it easy… he thought since he has not been caught for six-seven years… he will never be caught…”
“If the shortage of money I am facing gets too much, I’ll simply lift a cash van here or there… it’s just a game of Rs 2-3 crore,” the voice says in the conversation.
In the same audio, the voice tells Sukhpreet that he has “some things” which are to be sold.
“One, I have a glock (pistol) in the village… it’s Rs 4.5 lakh but I cannot sell it openly… I had bought it for some particular purpose… but I think I might not need it for a few years… I will have to leave for another place… I cannot just give it to anyone… selling it is risky…”
Further into the 56-minute conversation, the voice reveals how and why Bhullar was killed by the police.
“They (Jaipal and his associate) had smuggled in weapons, not drugs… which was to be kept at Phagwara. And the policemen who were working with them came to know that the weapons were not small ones… but bigger ones… and they wanted more money… the person who was with Jaipal killed the two policemen,” it says.
“Within a week, I came to know that Jaipal is hiding in Calcutta and one of the persons who knew his whereabouts had been caught by the police… but I couldn’t contact him as he never carried a phone… when the police caught them, they gave them some intoxicants mixed in milk… like a narco test… I knew that he wouldn’t take any names… but in the intoxicated state you never know… the police came to know that their stuff, including money, is lying somewhere.”
“Jaipal dealt in opium, not chitta (heroin)… and weapons and gold… in total, the money he left was worth about Rs 20-22 crore… no one really knows where that money is… even I don’t know… I know of only two places which we are not touching… the police have become very smart… they don’t recover the money… they allow it to be there and wait for the person who tries to come and get it,” says the voice.
“Jaipal was not into killing people… he never killed anyone… but in theft, there was no one as expert as him in Punjab,” it adds.
What Sukhpreet says
Reacting to Tarsem’s allegations that the audio recording was AI-generated, Sukhpreet told the media that the conversation was indeed his and Amritpal’s, and had been recorded in his mobile phone on auto-record mode, which was switched on for all his phone calls at the time.
In the conversation, Sukhpreet is heard repeatedly asking the person at the other end for his money. The other voice, while admitting that Sukhpreet’s payment is due, speaks about his inability to pay him fully as “he is ruined” and says his family business is not working. The voice admits to being neck deep in debt.
“I have already told you that I have someone who has cash and gold… but with gold the problem is that it is easily traced… you cannot exchange it till you know someone personally… I’m going to get that gold here… in small amounts… I have talked to someone… but that person is saying it cannot be done immediately… if I get those 10-15,000 dollars, our problems will be sorted…” says the voice purported to be Amritpal’s.
In the conversation, the voice is also heard telling Sukhpreet that when he visits his village in Punjab, he would collect a huge cache of money from outside the state, out of which he will pay him.
“There is no dearth of money… I can arrange it in one call… but I don’t want to use that money for my personal (matters)… In Deep’s (Sidhu) name, one person has sent me Rs 6 lakh which I sent further… I can keep some money out of it, but I don’t want to…” it says.
Sukhpreet’s brother Gurpreet Singh, once a close associate of Amritpal and the treasurer of Waris Punjab De, was shot dead last October, a few days after he posted a message on social media criticising Amritpal’s working in Punjab.
Following preliminary investigations, Punjab Director general of Police Gaurav Yadav announced that Gurpreet was killed at Amritpal’s behest and he was one of the accused in the case. In January this year, sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were added to the FIR in the matter.
Sukhpreet told reporters Friday that the recording of the conversation between him and Amritpal was at the time handed over to the police by his family as evidence.
He also suggested that a forensic examination of the audio be conducted, saying that he was ready to give his voice sample to ascertain the truth. He challenged Amritpal’s family to handover his voice sample for the same.
Sukhpreet also released a clip of a conversation between him and Amritpal’s father, claiming that it was recorded a few days after his conversation with Amritpal.
“When despite Amritpal’s promise I did not get any money, I called up his father and told him that my money should be paid. His father went on to abuse Amritpal, saying that he and his brother had ruined him,” Sukhpreet said.
Majithia has now demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency into the entire matter.
He announced that he would forward all the evidence in his possession to the Centre as the Punjab Police had become politicised and could not be trusted to probe Amritpal and his gang. He also questioned why Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was silent on such a crucial matter.
According to Majithia, the people of Punjab have been misled by Amritpal who, he alleged, was an “ISI agent”, referring to the Pakistani spy agency, and was playing a “very dangerous game in Punjab” aimed to create trouble in the state and kill in cold blood anyone who questioned his actions.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)