Why Amritpal Singh's Uncle Was Moved to Assam Jail? Punjab Police Going by the J&K Playbook

From suspending internet services in Punjab to moving his uncle Harjit Singh to a jail in Assam, the law enforcement’s strategy to corner and arrest pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh mirrors the modus operandi used to deal with terrorists and on-ground workers of terror modules in Jammu and Kashmir post the abrogation of special status in 2019.

Amritpal Singh remains on the run more than 72 hours after Punjab Police carried out a massive crackdown against him and members of his group Waris Punjab De. The radical preacher gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in Jalandhar district.

The action came weeks after Amritpal Singh and his supporters stormed the Ajnala police station near Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested associate. The episode had raised fears over the possibility of the return of Khalistani militancy to the border state.

When the operation was launched on Saturday, the Punjab government first snapped internet and SMS services in the state. While the services are set to be restored in some parts of Punjab from Tuesday noon, suspension of mobile internet and SMS services will continue in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur, Amritsar’s Ajnala sub-division and a few areas in Mohali. These areas are said to have higher concentration of Amritpal Singh’s followers, thus susceptible to mob mobilisation and violence.

More significant among the fast-paced developments of the last few days has been the surrender of Amritpal Singh’s uncle Harjit Singh in the early hours of Monday near Bullandpur Gurdwara in Jalandhar’s Mehatpur area.

Harjit Singh, who officials say helped his nephew gain control over the accounts of Waris Punjab De, is among five people slapped with the National Security Act (NSA), which allows the preventive detention of anyone who could threaten national security or public order.

All five — Daljit Singh Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh, Gurmeet Singh, ‘Pradhanmantri’ Bajeka and Harjit Singh — were moved to Assam by Punjab Police and taken to Dibrugarh Jail by road from Guwahati. The first four were moved on Sunday, while the Amritpal Singh’s uncle was moved on Tuesday morning.

Heavy security has been deployed at the Mohanbari airport in Dibrugarh, fuelling speculation that more Waris Punjab De members could be brought to the BJP-ruled state from AAP-governed Punjab, around 2,500 km away.

The strategy of sending the Khalistani sympathiser’s close aides to the northeastern state was a tested one to keep them from trying to mobilise their supporters into protesting or carrying out violent acts outside jails in Punjab. Since Waris Punjab De has no local ties there, Assam’s Dibrugarh Jail was picked as a safe option to house Amritpal’s aides.

Sources say Punjab may give requisition to other states as well to accommodate the outfit’s members detained under the National Security Act.

Tried and Tested

The Government of India and security agencies have been using the same strategy to deal with on-ground workers of terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir. These workers are alleged to be giving local support to terrorists in the Union Territory.

In 2021, as many as 38 prisoners, including 27 from Kashmir, and others from Jammu, were sent to Agra Jail. These accused were facing action under the Public Safety Act. They were residing in Baramulla, Srinagar and Kupwara areas of J&K and allegedly found to be involved in conspiring with terrorists and their network. In 2019, terrorists and on-ground workers from other jails in J&K were sent to Uttar Pradesh prisons after Article 370 was diluted to remove special status.

The National Investigation Agency had similarly planned to move gangsters from prisons in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to other jails to break the network the gangs had managed to run inside the jails. Since the NIA comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the task was much easier.

Central agencies had suggested shifting almost two dozen gangsters to other jails. The names included Lawrence Bishnoi, who had threatened to kill actor Salman Khan and is also the main accused in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala.

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