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Ajnala violence case: Multiple raids across Punjab to nab mobsters; 35 identified
More than 200 people, including Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh, were booked for storming Ajnala police in Amritsar station on February 23.
Police have intensified their action against those involved in the Ajnala violence case with several teams conducting the state-wide raids to nab the accused.
So far, police have identified 35 persons involved in the case and their arrests can be made anytime soon. More than 200 people, including Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh, were booked for storming Ajnala police station on February 23.
Hundreds of supporters of Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh had clashed with police and stormed into the Ajnala police station of Amritsar rural district, while protesting the arrest of one of his associates, Lovepreet Singh alias Toofan, who was booked for allegedly kidnapping a man.
Also Read | Action against Amritpal was planned on the day of Ajnala clash: Cops
The case of kidnapping and assault was also registered against Amritpal Singh and his associates, Bikramjit Singh, Pappalpreet Singh, Gurpreet Singh, and Fauji Rode, and 20 unknown persons.
On February 18, the police nabbed Toofan, a resident of Tibri in Gurdaspur. His arrest infuriated Amritpal who accused the police of falsely implicating him and also claimed that there was no evidence of Lovepreet’s presence at the spot. He had also threatened to ghero Ajnala police on February 24 seeking Lovepreet’s release and cancellation of FIR against them.
Amritpal and his supporters were prevented by police at Ajnala bus stand by erecting barricades. However, they forced their way through the barricades and also managed to gain entry inside the police station after clashing with police. Six cops, including suprintendent of police (SP) Jugraj Singh, were injured in the clash.
Senior suprintendent of police (SSP)-rural Satinder Singh said they have dispatched several teams to nab the accused involved in the violence case. “So far, there is no arrest in this case, but we have identified 35 persons. Our teams are working to identify other accused also,” he added.
Deputy suprintendent of police (DSP) Ajnala, Sanjiv Thakur, said more than 200 people, including Amritpal Singh, were booked in the violence case. Amritpal’s uncle Harjit Singh, who had surrendered before police on Monday, was also nominated in the case. Harjit, a former sarpanch, was sent to Assam after Punjab Police invoked National Security Act (NSA) against him. Four more associates of Amritpal were sent to Assam under the NSA.
Sources said most of the accused have gone into hiding. Police also conducted raid in Toofan’s residence, but he is still at large. Sources in Amritpal’s village said many male members of several families have left the village.
Police had registered a case with various charges, including of assault on cops on duty and attempted murder, in the Ajnala violence case on the very day of the incident, but the first information report (FIR) was not disclosed. The FIR is still not available on public domain and the police officials are tight-lipped in this regard. The FIRs which were registered after the Ajnala incident are uploaded on Punjab Police’s website.
A senior police official aware of the development said, “More than one hundred persons have been arrested in relation to the crackdown on Waris Punjab De elements. Most of those who are arrested were also involved in the Ajnala violence case, but they are yet to be arrested in this case.”
Sources said the 11 persons arrested under the Arms Act registered in Khalchian police station of Amritsar were also involved in the Ajnala violence case and they will be arrested in the case once their police remand in the Arms Act case finishes. Meanwhile, Amritpal’s mother had denied his son’s any link with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). She said her son was just working against drugs. She also refuted the charges of foreign funding through Amritpal’s friend Daljit Kalsi.
