Amritpal Singh Sandhu, a radical activist, stormed the Ajnala police station in Amritsar on Thursday with the help of hundreds of his followers, forcing the Punjab Police to release his associate who had been detained in connection with a case against Amritpal and 25 other people.
In order to investigate the FIR and confirm Amritpal’s claims that the case against him and his followers was filed on false pretenses, the police have now decided to form a special investigation team (SIT).
Amritpal is the leader of a division of the extremist group Waris Punjab De, which was founded by the late Punjabi actor-turned-attorney Deep Sidhu. Amritpal has previously been outspoken in his calls for Khalistan, a distinct Sikh state.
Amritpal’s supporters clashed with the police in Ajnala on Thursday afternoon while brandishing swords, lathis, and sticks. After entering the police station, he addressed his supporters and urged them to “stay put peacefully” until their requests were fulfilled.
“We must stay gathered here to secure the associate’s release and have the FIR revoked. We will remain here until that does not take place. When we win, we’ll all go to the Golden Temple (Darbar Sahib) to thank the Guru, Amritpal informed his supporters.
The issue has been settled, according to Satinder Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Amritsar (rural). The one person detained in this instance will be released the following morning. Second, a SIT has been established to look into the FIR filed against Amritpal and his men, the official said, adding that Amritpal and his followers have approved of this.
Amritpal threatened the Punjab government during a press conference on Wednesday that if the FIR against them was not dropped within the next 24 hours, he and his supporters would risk being arrested at the Ajnala police station. More than 400 police officers were stationed around the Ajnala police station, which was encircled by police barriers on all sides, after Amritpal issued his call to action.
Amritpal’s followers arrived at the Ajnala police station on Thursday morning, resembling a religious jatha and carrying the Guru Granth Sahib in a special vehicle. (congregation). To encircle the police headquarters, they broke through the police perimeter. Amritpal was seen pushing the special vehicle bearing the Guru Granth Sahib as the crowd surged forward, flanked by supporters brandishing automatic weapons.
Amritpal urged his supporters to sit down quietly and keep order in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib after they had surrounded the police station.
Videos of the incident, however, show Amritpal’s followers hitting police officers, some of whom are reportedly hurt. There were rumors that his followers had vandalized the nearby police vehicles. When asked why the police did nothing when the supporters arrived in front of the holy Guru Granth Sahib, SSP Singh responded, “The police did not react because the supporters had arrived in front of the sacred Guru Granth Sahib and it would not have been advisable to engage in any action.”
Amritpal was arrested by the authorities on February 15 in response to a complaint from a Chamkaur Sahib resident, along with five of his associates and 20 unidentified individuals. Birender Singh, the complainant, claimed that Amritpal and his associates had kidnapped him from the Damdami Taksal in Ajnala before beating him and making threats against his family.
Additionally, he informed the authorities that this might be related to a “Facebook Live” he conducted on February 7 during which he disparaged Amritpal and his supporters.
After filing a FIR in this matter, the police had detained Amritpal’s close friend Lovepreet Singh Toofan on February 17 at his Tarn Taran home.
Speaking to his supporters in Ajnala, Amritpal claimed that the FIR against him and his associates had been filed without any proof being gathered and based solely on the statement of a patient at the PGIMER in Chandigarh who was being treated for mental illness. He asserted that the police filed a FIR against him to gauge his and his followers’ reactions.
Amritpal requested that Toofan be brought before them after alleging that the police had tortured him. “I implore Bhagwant Mann not to turn into Beant Singh. But he has, and several Dilawar Singhs have been born in this sangat (congregation),” he said.
The radical activist was alluding to former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who is credited with killing suicide bomber Dilawar Singh in August 1995 and putting an end to terrorism in Punjab.
“I have no fear of dying or being imprisoned. Amritpal promised his supporters in Ajnala, “If I go to jail, it will be for a legitimate cause, not on a false FIR.
