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By India Today News Desk: Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh, who was arrested after surrendering before Moga Police in Punjab, will be shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh Central Jail on Sunday.
Amritpal’s close aide Papalpreet Singh, who was arrested from Punjab’s Hoshiyarpur on April 10, and his other eight associates are already lodged in the high-security prison, hundreds of kilometres away from their home state of Punjab.
The key reason given by the police for shifting Amritpal and his aides to Assam instead of housing them in Punjab or Delhi jails is the presence of other gangsters familiar to the separatist group.
Also, the authorities consider the Dibrugarh Jail, built in 1859-60, the most secure prison in the state. It is the oldest jail in the northeast and was used to keep many top leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (Ulfa-I).
A total of nine aides, including Amritpal’s uncle, a financier, a media advisor and security guards are in the Dibrugarh jail. 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 lodged in the Assam’s central jail.
Almost all of Amritpal’s aides have a criminal background and are former supporters of Deep Sidhu, a Punjabi actor who floated the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit which Amritpal now leads. Sidhu died near Delhi in a road accident in February 2022.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma previously said the transfer of Amritpal’s associates to Dibrugarh jail was part of a “police-to-police” cooperation.
SECURITY BEEFED UP IN PRISON
With Dibrugarh jail now housing Khalistani radicals, security in and around the premises has been increased and multi-tier security arrangements have been introduced, officials said. There are several layers of security in the cell where Amritpal’s aides are lodged, officials stated.
“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 inside and the movement of visitors at the jail gates. Our teams fixed non-functional CCTV camera and set up high-mast lights when we were informed that the NSA-prisoners from Punjab would be brought here,” a jail official was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
Another jail official claimed that unlike other jails, the Dibrugarh jail was better equipped to manage inmates, and has fewer than 430 prisoners despite having the capacity to house 680 prisoners.
Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh, who was on the run since March 18, surrendered before Moga Police in Punjab, sources told India Today. He will be shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail, where eight of his aides, including Papalpreet Singh, are already being held under the National Security Act.
Amritpal Singh addressed a sermon at a Gurdwara in Rode village of Moga district before surrendering. He himself informed the police after reaching Gurudwara on Saturday evening.
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