Hunt for Amritpal Singh: NSA slapped against aides as hunt for ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief enters Day 4

The massive hunt for radical preacher and ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh, who has been declared a ‘fugitive’, entered the fourth day on Tuesday, as his uncle Harjit Singh, arrested on Monday and brought to Assam, was booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) by the Punjab Police.

Punjab Police began a massive crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his organisation on Saturday, and police claimed that he gave police the slip and escaped their dragnet after a “chase of 20-25 kms”.

The crackdown comes weeks after Amritpal and his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar demanding the release of kidnapping accused Lovepreet Singh. A day later, he walked free from the Amritsar Central jail.

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Meanwhile, Harjit Singh, who surrendered before Jalandhar police in the early hours of Monday, was brought to Assam by the Punjab Police on Tuesday morning, reported PTI, quoting a police official.

A cavalcade of seven security vehicles took Harjit Singh from the Guwahati airport to the Dibrugarh central jail by road where he was lodged at 7.10 AM. This makes him the fifth person linked to the Waris Punjab De group to be brought to the northeastern state.

IG (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said the NSA had been imposed on Daljit Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh alias Pardhanmantri Bajeke, Basant Singh Daulatpura, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala and Harjit Singh, who are all lodged in Assam jail, reported The Indian Express.

The cop said that there is likely involvement of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. “The circumstances and activities (of Amritpal and his aides) suggest that (Pakistani agency) ISI is involved in this, and they were getting funding from abroad.”

The Punjab government, meanwhile, had suspended mobile internet, SMS services till Tuesday noon to maintain “public order”. The services will remain suspended in the districts Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur, Sub-Division Ainala in Amritsar, areas adjoining YPS chowk and Airport Road both in SAS Nagar, till 12 PM on March 23, the government said on Tuesday.