Guwahati, April 24: The leader of the Khalistani separatist movement, Amritpal Singh, surrendered to the Punjab Police in Moga on Sunday and was flown to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under heavy security.
Despite the transfer raising questions, officials say that Dibrugarh Prison is one of the oldest and most secure in the entire northeast and has housed senior members of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I).
Officials have clarified that there was no political motivation behind the police-to-police collaboration, with the main reason for Singh’s transfer being the presence of several gangsters known to the separatist group ‘Waris Punjab De’.
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Numerous associates of Amritpal Singh, including Papalpreet Singh, are already being held at the maximum-security facility in Dibrugarh, Assam.
Singh’s aides who were arrested when the Punjab Police cracked down on the separatist group are all known supporters of Punjabi actress Deep Sindhu’s ‘Waris Punjab De’ group, currently led by Amritpal Singh. The Dibrugarh jail in Assam, with a capacity to house 680 offenders, is better suited to manage detainees according to officials.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had previously stated that criminals or fugitives from one state had been detained in jails in other states as part of police-to-police cooperation. Overall, officials have maintained that there was no political agenda behind the decision to transfer Amritpal Singh to the Dibrugarh jail in Assam.
