The recent arrest of two supporters of pro-Khalistan leader and MP Amritpal Singh – whose detention under NSA has recently been extended for another year – for allegedly planning to attack some top leaders has rung the alarm bells for the security agencies. A report by Rajesh Moudgil
The Punjab police arrested two supporters of Sikh outfit, “Waris Punjab De” (WPD), on April 21, last, and claimed to have busted a plot to attack some top political leaders including Union home minister Amit Shah, Union minister Ravneet Bittu and senior Akali leader Bikramjit Majithia.
The WPD is headed by pro-Khalistan radical Sikh leader and Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib Member of Parliament (MP) Amritpal Singh, 32, who is currently detained in Dibrugarh Jail, Assam, under National Security Act (NSA).
For record, Amritpal Singh has been in jail since April, 2023 after he was booked for leading a large number of his supporters to Amritsar’s Ajnala police station on February 23, 2023, vandalising it and injuring several police personnel for the release of one of his supporters.
He fled the spot on March 18 after being booked under several charges and non-bailable warrants were issued against him. He was nabbed by Punjab police from Moga on April 23, 2023 following a month-long manhunt. He was booked under NSA and sent to Dibrugarh jail along with his aides from where fought and won the Lok Sabha election with a massive margin in 2024.
The alleged recent plot to attack the senior leaders by Amritpal’s supporters came to light after some leaked screenshots of their chat on a WhatsApp group went viral on social media about two weeks ago, ringing alarm across security agencies.
Stating that a case has been registered at the Cyber Crime police station in Moga, the police said that the two accused have been identified as Balkar Singh of Khanna and Pawandeep Singh of Moga, while another accused named in the FIR is Lakhdeep Singh of Bathinda. Police held that the alleged screenshots and audio recordings related to the plot to attack the leaders have been shared with the concerned security agencies.
According to police, the WhatsApp group in which the said plot was allegedly discussed, has 600 members and that the group members discussed plans to avenge the extension of Amritpal Singh detention under NSA. They also discussed details of foreign funding and arms procurement.
In fact, the matter was also brought before the media after senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Majithia briefed the newspersons in the context and demanded arrest of members of the WhatsApp group.
Majithia, who also released some audio clips in which he alleged Amritpal spoke about his relation with gangsters, also demanded a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the entire matter. He held that he would forward all the evidence in his possession to the Centre as “the Punjab police had become politicised”.
Questioning why chief minister Bhagwant Mann was silent on such a crucial matter, he said: “Are the Punjab police, which have all the evidence in its possession, and the chief minister waiting for some person to die’?
Majithia further alleged that Amritpal was a ‘dhongi’ (impersonator) and not a ‘pracharak’ (preacher), and added that Amritpal and his family had always supported the Congress party and even voted against Panthic candidate Paramjit Kaur Khalra in 2019. He also alleged that gangsters Arsh Dalla, Happy Passia and Harwinder Rinda besides others were closely associated with Amritpal.
The SAD leader also released details of the WhatsApp conversations in the Akali Dal (WPD) Team Moga page in which team members, he alleged, asserted that they were ready to become martyrs besides asking if their families would be look after in case they indulged in political assassinations of leaders including Ravneet Bittu, Bikram Singh Majithia and Amit Shah. He also released an audio clip of group in which a woman can be instigating members to become suicide bombers.
Pertinently, the Punjab government was said to have also decided to extend the detention of Amritpal currently in Dibrugarh Jail, Assam under NSA, for another year. The detention of his aides, who were also jailed under NSA, was not extended and they have recently been brought back to Punjab where they would face trial for other charges. Amritpal and his aides were booked on charges of spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and disrupting public servants from carrying out their duty in 2023.
According to the extension order issued on June 3, 2024, his detention continued until April, 2025. According to sources, his detention has been extended as police claimed to have some evidence that he still continued to be a threat to the law and order of the state.
