Chandigarh: The Punjab government has made out a fresh case for an extension in the detention of radical Sikh activist Amritpal Singh and his nine associates lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act (NSA) for nearly a year now.
Amritsar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ghanshyam Thori on 13 March placed a proposal for the extension of their detention under the NSA before the home department on the ground that, despite their year-long detention, self-styled preacher Amritpal and his nine associates allegedly continued to indulge in activities “prejudicial to the security of India and the maintenance of public order”.
Amritpal and his nine associates, including his uncle Harjit Singh and actor Sarabjit Singh Kalsi, have been locked up in Dibrugarh jail since their arrests on different dates between March and April last year. Their release was supposed to be this March-April since the maximum incarceration period on a detention order under the NSA is twelve months.
Amritpal would complete a full year in custody on 23 April this year.
Sources in the DC office told ThePrint that based on the reports from the senior superintendent of police (Amritsar Rural), fresh grounds for seeking a detention order have been listed. These include the alleged misuse of a telephone facility in jail to spread anti-national sentiment and the alleged use of media to provoke anti-national sentiment among people in Punjab by Amritpal and his group, as well as the recovery from them of material allegedly used to communicate with Khalistani elements in Pakistan and other countries.
The DC’s proposal includes a set of 44 annexures, most of which are audio and video clips to buttress the grounds for detention. The list also mentioned the role played by Amritpal’s family in assisting him with his designs.
The DC has prepared a separate proposal for each detainee, seeking an extension of detention by listing grounds for each of them. “These have been forwarded to the home department,” said Thori when contacted by ThePrint.
Punjab Police detained Amritpal on 23 April last year under the NSA after a month-long manhunt, which was preceded by the arrest of hundreds of his supporters and associates in a pan-Punjab crackdown on 18 March.
“When a person is detained under NSA, there are no specific charges against him, only grounds of detention explaining why the person needs to remain in custody. Also, detention under the NSA is unlike a traditional jail term. A detenue under NSA has access to several facilities that jail inmates don’t,” said advocate Simranjit Singh, who has been representing Amritpal and his associates in various courts since last year.
If the home department approves the DC’s proposal, Amritpal and his nine associates could be detained for another three months before the review of the decision.
On 17 February this year, Director General of Police Assam G.P. Singh said incriminating material, including mobile phones, SIM cards, and spy cams, were recovered from the NSA cell in Dibrugarh jail.
“…(The) source of these unauthorised articles and mode of induction is being ascertained. Further lawful action is being taken and steps being taken to prevent recurrence,” G.P. Singh wrote on Twitter.
Amritpal, on the other hand, claimed the jail authorities installed spy cameras in their cells, even in the bathrooms, and planted the various electronic gadgets recovered later.
In an audio message following the gadgets’ recovery, Amritpal said he and his associates were on a hunger strike inside the jail to protest against the unauthorised monitoring of their cells.
“We fear that we will be given something in our food to kill us; if Bhagwant Mann and his government want to kill us, he should do so like a man — bring us to Punjab and hang us publicly,” said Amritpal in the 19 February audio message.
The next day, Amritpal’s family moved a demand to Thori, asking them to shift Amritpal to Punjab. His mother, Balwinder Kaur, and his wife, Kirandeep Kaur, also went on a hunger strike at Amritsar to press for the demand.
Even as the hunger strike by the detainees and Amritpal’s family continued, the superintendent of Dibrugarh jail, Nripen Das, was arrested for providing the incriminating electronic gadgets, including a smartphone, to Amritpal and his men in the first week of March.
The hunger strike by the detainees and the family ended last week, following directions issued by the ‘jathedar‘ of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs.
This was not the first time Amritpal and his associates had gone on hunger strike during their detention. “The first time they went on hunger strike was in July last year to have access to better food and a cleaner environment. Then, they went on hunger strike in October, demanding access to their lawyers,” said advocate Simranjit Singh.
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Four FIRs against Amritpal
Once the NSA detention ends, Amritpal will face action under the various FIRs registered against him. There are four cases against him in Punjab.
The first FIR was filed against him, five associates, and 20 unidentified persons at the Ajnala police station 16 February last year on charges of abduction and rioting based on a complaint of one Barinder Singh, a resident of Salempur village in Chamkaur Sahib, Rupnagar district.
According to the complainant, Amritpal and his men beat him up after they abducted him from Damdami Taksal, Ajnala. Ajnala Police filed the FIR under IPC sections 365 (kidnapping), 379B (2) (snatching), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (armed rioting), and 149 (unlawful assembly).
After the initial FIR, the Ajnala Police filed a challan against 12 co-accused in June last year.
Another FIR was lodged against Amritpal and his three associates on 22 February at the Baghapurana police station in Moga for a speech delivered by Amritpal at Budh Singh Wala village during a ceremony organised to mark the death anniversary of actor-turned-radical activist Deep Sidhu. Amritpal spoke to provoke violent sentiments against the nation, besides encouraging communal dissonance, the FIR said.
Baghapurana police registered the case under IPC sections 121A (wage war against the government of India), 143, 153 A (vilification of a religion), 153 B (promotion of hatred among communities), 505 (2) (committing an offence during religious worship) and 188 (disobedience of government orders).
“The (Baghapurana PS) case is still under investigation as all the accused in this case are in detention under NSA. And till they are arrested in this FIR, investigation cannot move ahead,” Moga SSP Vivek Sheel Soni told ThePrint.
On 22 February only, another case was registered against Amritpal in Amritsar city for a speech he delivered on 15 February at the Golden Temple. According to the FIR, Amritpal gave a provocative speech, vilifying religions. The case was registered under IPC sections 153 A (vilification of a religion), and 505 (2) (committing an offence during religious worship).
The fourth case was registered against Amritpal, his 19 associates, and another 200 unidentified persons for the 23 February 2023 storming of the Ajnala police station.
On 17 February, Ajnala police arrested Lovepreet Singh Toofan, a close associate of Amritpal, in a kidnapping case filed the previous day. Amritpal, along with hundreds of armed supporters, stormed the Ajnala police station on 23 February and forced the police to release Toofan. They had marched to the police station with the Guru Granth Sahib.
After the initial FIR, Ajnala police filed a challan against 28 co-accused in June 2023, followed by a supplementary challan against another four accused on 13 March this year.
“Amritpal was wanted by Ajnala police from 16 February in the kidnapping and then two other cases from 22 February and yet he entered the Ajnala police station on 23 February. He was not arrested in these cases,” said advocate Simranjit Singh.
Amritpal will have to face these cases anew on his return to Punjab, but, according to law, he can be considered arrested in these cases while in detention under NSA, Simranjit Singh said. The trials of the co-accused who aren’t NSA detainees can then proceed, he added.
He added that as Amritpal’s advocate, he has moved applications for his arrest in these cases. “The applications are pending in the district courts at Ajnala, Amritsar, and Moga.”
“There is no bar on an NSA detenue to be put on trial in cases he faces,” he added.
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Amritpal’s rise to fame & downfall
Heading the outfit “Waris Punjab de”, 31-year-old Amritpal had claimed the legacy of Khalistani activist Deep Sidhu, who died in a car crash in February 2022. Actor Sarabjit Singh Kalsi, who was a close associate of Sidhu, was instrumental in handing over Sidhu’s legacy to Amritpal by choosing him as Sidhu’s successor.
According to Amritpal’s claims, he left his business in Dubai and came back to Punjab in August 2022 to work towards the “emancipation of Sikhs”.
Amritpal soon became the face of a fresh demand for the creation of Khalistan. He moved with heavily armed men in swanky vehicles, mocked the Constitution, openly exhorted Sikh separatism, and asked Sikh youths to arm themselves.
The Punjab Police gave a long rope to Amritpal and his men before deciding to take action against him. The storming of the Ajnala police station brought national attention to Punjab as a “victorious” Amritpal gloated over his “achievement”.
On 18 March 2023, the police detained hundreds of supporters of Amritpal over the Ajnala incident but Amritpal, along with his uncle Harjit Singh and close aides Papalpreet Singh, Bikramjeet Singh and Toofan, managed to escape. While Harjit Singh surrendered a few days later, and police arrested Toofan, a cat-and-mouse chase began between the police and Amritpal and Papalpreet that lasted for almost a month.
The duo running from the police were caught on CCTV cameras, looking for hideouts, travelling on motorcycles, wooden carts, and buses. Papalpreet was finally arrested on April 10 and Amritpal claimed he surrendered on 23 April 2023.
Bikramjeet Singh is still on the run. “All efforts are on to nab him,” said SSP Amritsar Rural Satinder Singh.
Following the crackdown, the Punjab Police found Amritpal was not a mere rabble-rouser but had set up an armed unit — Anandpur Khalsa Fauj. He was training men to use weapons and had connections with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
The NSA was invoked against Amritpal, his uncle Harjit Singh, actor Kalsi, and Amritpal’s aides Papalpreet Singh, Gurinder Aujla alias Guri Aujla, Basant Singh, Bhagwant Singh alias Pradhan Mantri Bajeke, Gurmeet Singh Gill alias Bukkanwala, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal alias Rauke, Varinder Singh alias Fauji, and Bikramjeet Singh.
Seven of the ten detainees challenged their detention under the NSA in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
“Bhai Amritpal Singh, his uncle Harjit Singh and Varinder Singh did not want to challenge the NSA detention,” said advocate Simranjit Singh, who is representing two of the detainees Aujla and Kalsi in the high court.
Also, multiple bail applications have been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on behalf of the almost three dozen persons arrested in the Ajnala police station case, barring the ones detained under the NSA.
In cases where the bail applications have been rejected, Simranjit Singh said they are thinking of approaching the Supreme Court. “One of the main reasons why their bail applications are being rejected is because the main accused in the case are detained under NSA. Till they (main accused) are formally arrested (in these cases), the investigation cannot move ahead and bail becomes difficult for the other accused,” said Simranjit Singh.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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