Family members of the arrested activists of ‘Waris Punjab De’, including the outfit’s chief Amritpal Singh, arrived in Dibrugarh, Assam, to meet them at the Dibrugarh Central Jail. The Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed one family member to meet the arrested activists, prompting their journey to the northeastern state.
The family members were accompanied by an executive member of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and legal counsel Bhagwant Singh Siyalka, and another lawyer Simranjeet Singh. After meeting the arrested activists, Simranjeet Singh told reporters that all of them have been booked under the National Security Act (NSA), with the same allegations against each of them. He found this improbable and appealed in the high court to quash the charges under NSA against them. The next hearing date is May 1.
Simranjeet Singh also claimed that there is no criminal background of the arrested activists, and it is a conspiracy. Amritpal Singh was campaigning against drug abuse and was engaged in preaching the tenets of Sikhism. The family members checked into a local hotel before visiting a gurdwara and then the jail in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, a joint team of the Intelligence Bureau and Punjab Police arrived in Dibrugarh to interrogate Amritpal Singh, who has been kept in solitary confinement since his arrest in Punjab on April 23. The team questioned him about the sources of funds received and his links with foreign agencies. Nine other activists of ‘Waris Punjab De’ were brought to the Dibrugarh Central Jail since March 19, after they were arrested in Punjab.
Amritpal Singh and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel, and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants. The Punjab Police initiated a crackdown on ‘Waris Punjab De’ last month and arrested several of its members. The outfit was accused of radicalizing the youth and promoting secessionist ideas.