Separatist Amritpal Singh, currently being held in an Assam jail under the National Security Act (NSA), is allegedly set to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib constituency as an independent candidate, according to his legal representative.
However, his father, Tarsem Singh, declined to comment until meeting his son on Thursday, stating that Amritpal had previously shown no interest in politics, PTI reported.
Amritpal Singh’s counsel, Rajdev Singh Khalsa, claimed that during a meeting at Dibrugarh Central Jail, he urged Singh to run for office in the interest of the ‘Khalsa Panth’, to which Singh purportedly agreed. Khalsa claimed that Singh will contest as an independent candidate.
Also Read:Nitish Kumar’s party leader shot dead by bike-borne assailants in Patna
Singh, the leader of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ group, has been in custody since April last year, with the NSA invoked against him. He and nine associates are presently detained in Dibrugarh Jail.
Amritpal Singh, who aspired to be like deceased Kalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was caught by the police in Moga’s Rode village on April 23 last year after they searched for him for more than a month.
His escape from police custody in Jalandhar district in March of the same year involved switching vehicles and altering his appearance.
Also Read:Lok Sabha poll 2024: Tough fight for Kanpur LS seat
The Punjab Police launched a crackdown following the Ajnala incident on February 23, 2023. During that event, Amritpal Singh and his friends, some of whom had swords and guns, broke through barriers and went into a police station outside of Amritsar city. They clashed with law enforcement officers in an effort to secure the release of Lovepreet Singh Toofan, one of their associates.
Amritpal Singh and his companions faced multiple criminal charges, including inciting disharmony among communities, attempted murder, assaults on police personnel, and obstructing the lawful duties of public servants.