Assam Subplot, Arms Case Paves Means For Centre Crackdown On Amritpal Singh

The Punjab police have launched an enormous operation to catch Amritpal Singh.

New Delhi:

With a recent FIR citing the Arms Act towards Khalistan supporter Amritpal Singh, who’s being chased by the Punjab police, the Centre appears to be shifting in to take over the case as a terror investigation. Prime anti-terror physique Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) could probe Amritpal Singh and 7 of his aides over the cost of possessing unlawful arms – Arms Act circumstances are included within the NIA Act. The Khalistani chief has been named “Accused Primary” within the new case.

In the meantime, 4 of Amritpal Singh’s high aides, arrested and flown to Dibrugarh in higher Assam, have been charged below the stringent Nationwide Safety Act (NSA), which permits the police to detain suspects in any jail throughout the nation.

The ‘high secret’ motion was a coordinated effort between Aam Aadmi Half-ruled Punjab, the Centre, and BJP-governed Assam, say officers. An Indian Air Pressure plane was used to move the accused, additional signalling the union authorities’s rising involvement to dissipate the difficulty, which has the potential to hamper peace, invoking painful reminiscences of the state’s disturbed previous.

Nevertheless, the BJP remained tight-lipped concerning the coordination between states ruled by rival events. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma yesterday stated it was only a “police-to-police” cooperation. “There have been arrests in Assam as nicely once we despatched individuals to Bihar’s Bhagalpur jail for safety causes. Perhaps the Punjab Police feels the prisoners must be held in Assam for just a few days,” he stated.

Sources say Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had mentioned the plan to arrest Amritpal Singh with House Minister Amit Shah in a gathering on March 2.

Up to now, the police have arrested 112 associates of Amritpal Singh — 34 of them on Sunday. A number of members of his ‘Waris Punjab De’ group have been detained for questioning. Amongst these arrested was Daljeet Singh Kalsi, the person who handles Amritpal Singh’s funds.