CHANDIGARH/GUWAHATI: Radical preacher Amritpal Singh on Sunday joined nine of his close aides, including his uncle Harjit Singh, in Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam where they have been lodged since last month.
Immediately after his arrest on Sunday, the Punjab Police took Amritpal from Rode village in Moga and from there, straight to the Bathinda airport under heavy security. A special plane took him to Dibrugarh in Assam by a team of Punjab police personnel where he was lodged in the high-security Central jail. The Assam Police provided heavy security cover from the airport to jail.
‘Nine of Amritpal’s close aides — Daljit Singh Kalsi, Papalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Varinder Singh Johal, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala, Harjit Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Basant Singh and Gurinderpal Singh Aujla -- have been lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam and charged under the stringent National Security Act. The security around the prison has been tightened since March 19.
A multi-layer security ring has been thrown around the jail as the entire jail complex has been kept out of the bounds of the public. Several high-mast lights have been put up and there is round-the-clock CCTV surveillance. They are the only Sikh inmates of the Dibrugarh jail which is Assam’s second oldest prison built in 1857.
The police have not yet issued any statement but a senior government official said there are no security concerns. “Amritpal and the others (his aides) have been lodged at the Dibrugarh jail based on the request of the Punjab government. All of them have been kept within the same compound,” an official told this paper, adding, “We have updated the security measures. The jail is under CCTV surveillance. The CCTVs have been also upgraded.”
Security has been augmented, both inside and outside the jail. “We recently conducted a security review meeting. We don’t have any security-related concerns,” the official said.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said the AAP government was duty-bound to preserve hard-earned peace and communal harmony in the state.
How he grabbed headlines
Life for radical preacher Amritpal Singh transformed since his return from Dubai in the middle of last year. Today, he was booked under the stringent sections of the National Security Act (NSA). Besides, Punjab Police has registered eight criminal cases. Here’s how it erupted this year:
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