Description
Amritpal Singh: His associates will probably be detained at Dibrugarh Central Prison. In a highly unusual development amid a massive coordinated action between the Central, Punjab and Assam governments against Khalistan separatist leader Amritpal Singh, who remains at large, four of his top arrested aides have been airlifted to Dibrugarh on the high Assam by a special air force. plane, senior police sources said. They are likely to be held at Dibrugarh Central High Security Prison. The radical leader's associates were accompanied by a team of 30 Punjab policemen, including their Inspector General of Prisons. They flew from Amritsar on an Indian Air Force AN32 plane and reached Dibrugarh via Jorhat, which is also in Assam. Dibrugarh and Jorhat are the main air force bases.
The Dibrugarh district collector and local police superintendent welcomed the team under tight security at Mohanbari airport.
Dibrugarh Central Jail is one of the oldest prisons in North East India. It is heavily fortified and was used to contain key militants during the peak of ULFA militancy in Assam.
Punjab police have so far arrested 78 members of Amritpal Singh's "Waris Punjab De" team, while several others have been detained for questioning, authorities said. His father has also been detained for questioning and there is a massive deployment of police and paramilitary forces outside his village, Jallupur Khaira, in Amritsar.
"Six or seven gunmen from Amritpal Singh are among those arrested by the police," said Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kuldeep Singh Chahal.
The so-called close aide of the preacher, Daljeet Singh Kalsi, who manages his finances, was also arrested this morning in Gurgaon, Haryana.
Sources say Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had discussed the plan to arrest Amritpal Singh with Home Minister Amit Shah during a meeting on March 2.
Text and internet messages were caught in Punjab on Saturday after Amritpal Singh's associates began broadcasting frenzied videos calling on his supporters to gather in the village where police had caught him. The Internet and text message ban has been extended for one more day, until 12:00 pm on Monday.
