Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh, who was arrested after surrendering to Moga Police in Punjab, will be moved...
Digital Desk: Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh, who was arrested after surrendering to Moga Police in Punjab, will be moved to Assam's Dibrugarh Central Jail on Sunday.
Amritpal's close aide Papalpreet Singh, who was arrested in Punjab's Hoshiyarpur on April 10, and his other eight companions are already in the high-security prison, hundreds of kilometres away from their native state of Punjab.
The primary reason given by the police for moving Amritpal and his supporters to Assam rather than keeping them in jails in Punjab or Delhi is the existence of other gangsters well-known to the separatist movement.
Moreover, the authorities consider the Dibrugarh Jail, which was built in 1859-60, as the state's most secure prison. It is the oldest jail in the northeast and has housed numerous top leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I).
In the Dibrugarh jail, there are nine aides, including Amritpal's uncle, a banker, a media advisor, and security guards. Papalpreet Singh, Daljit Singh Kalsi, Bhagwant Singh alias Bajeke, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwal, Basant Singh Daulatpura, Harjit Singh, Varinder Singh alias Fauji, Varinder Singh, and Gurinder Pal Singh are all detained in the Dibrugarh jail.
Almost all of Amritpal's aides have a criminal history and were once supporters of Deep Sidhu, a Punjabi actor who founded the 'Waris Punjab De' organization that Amritpal now commands. Sidhu died in a car accident in Delhi in February 2022.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier stated that the transfer of Amritpal's aides to Dibrugarh jail was part of a "police-to-police" cooperation.
Security Beefed Up In Dibrugarh Central Jail
With Khalistani radicals now housed in Dibrugarh jail, security in and around the facility has been tightened, and multi-tier security arrangements have been implemented, according to officials. Officials said there are multiple layers of protection in the cell where Amritpal's aides are being held.
"We now have CRPF personnel guarding the jail round the clock. There are also commandos from the Assam Police. 57 CCTV cameras monitor the prisoners' movements within the jail as well as visitors' movements at the jail gates. When we were notified that the NSA-prisoners from Punjab would be brought here, our workers repaired broken CCTV cameras and installed high-mast lights," a jail official said to Hindustan Times.
Another jail official claimed that, unlike other jails, the Dibrugarh jail is better equipped to manage prisoners and has fewer than 430 prisoners while having a capacity of 680.
Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh, who had been on the run since March 18, has surrendered to Moga Police in Punjab. He will be sent to Assam's Dibrugarh jail, where eight of his associates, including Papalpreet Singh, are already being jailed under the National Security Act.
Before surrendering, Amritpal Singh delivered a sermon at a Gurdwara in Rode, Moga district. After arriving at Gurudwara on Saturday evening, he himself called the police.
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