GUWAHATI: The Assam Police tightened the security of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after a pro-Khalistani leader issued a threat demanding that radical outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ members, including its chief Amritpal Singh, be shifted from Assam’s Dibrugarh Central Jail to Amritsar.
The threat that Sarma will face the “consequences” if he fails to shift Amritpal and his associates to Amritsar was issued through a recorded voice message. Several journalists in Guwahati received it.
The police took the threat seriously.
“The threat has come to our notice. We’ve strengthened the chief minister’s security and are assessing the risks,” Director General of Police GP Singh said.
As Sarma often visits places outside the state, Singh said the Assam Police had written to the DGPs of several states and central agencies to provide security to the CM as per threat.
“Pannun (Gurpatwant Singh Pannun) lives in the US and is associated with the Sikhs for Justice. He is a designated terrorist in India. We are taking the threat seriously,” Singh added.
Sarma is already covered under Z plus security. He on Friday downplayed the threat.
“Why are you so frightened about the Khalistanis? The threat was issued to me but you are frightened,” the CM told a journalist when asked about the threat.
The 29-year-old Amritpal is languishing in the Dibrugarh jail along with nine of his associates.
Last month, a major security breach was detected in the National Security Act (NSA) cell of the highly-secured jail. During a search, the jail staff recovered smartphone with SIM, keypad phone, TV remote with keyboard, spy cam pen, pen drives, bluetooth headphone & speakers and smart watch.
