E-Paper
Amritpal arrested in Ajnala case as NSA term ends; Punjab Police get 2-day custody
Khadoor Sahib MP to remain in Dibrugarh jail as Punjab Police initiate formal trial; high court permits all legal proceedings and questioning to be conducted via video-conferencing.
A special team of Punjab Police on Thursday arrested Waris Punjab De chief and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh in Dibrugarh, Assam, in connection with the 2023 Ajnala police station attack case. The arrest was carried out immediately after his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) expired on April 22.
The radical leader was produced before the Ajnala sub-divisional judicial magistrate via videoconferencing and remanded to two days in police custody. He is scheduled to be presented before the court again on April 25 through video conferencing.
The hearing was conducted by sub-divisional judicial magistrate Palwinder Singh in the presence of public prosecutors, including district attorney Amritpal Singh Khehra, and defence counsel led by advocate Harpal Singh Khara.
Amritpal was arrested in April 2023 from Rode village in Moga district, nearly two months after the Ajnala incident. During that incident, he and his supporters allegedly broke through barricades, entered the police station on the outskirts of Amritsar and clashed with police personnel in an attempt to secure the release of an associate. He was detained under the NSA and sent to the Dibrugarh jail.
A 12-member Punjab Police team, led by a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer, had reached Dibrugarh earlier in the day. According to defence lawyers, the team had already secured an arrest warrant along with a two-day police remand order. The arrest is expected to facilitate the commencement of trial proceedings in the Ajnala case.
According to his counsel in Dibrugarh, Jasbir Kaur, Amritpal will be interrogated at the Dibrugarh police station during the remand period and will subsequently be returned to Dibrugarh Central Jail. Trial proceedings are expected to be conducted via videoconferencing from Punjab.
The arrest follows a recent order by the Punjab and Haryana high court, which permitted Punjab Police to formally arrest him after his NSA detention expired, while allowing him to remain in Dibrugarh jail due to concerns over potential law and order issues if he were transferred to Punjab.
An FIR in the Ajnala case includes charges under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including attempt to murder, rioting, assault on public servants and criminal conspiracy, along with provisions of the Arms Act. Charges have been framed against Amritpal and around 40 others.
On Thursday afternoon, he was moved from Dibrugarh Central Jail to the sadar police station under heavy security. The transfer involved an 11-vehicle convoy comprising Punjab Police, Assam Police and commandos.
The prosecution argued for police custody on the grounds that the accused had not cooperated during earlier questioning and that further interrogation was necessary to recover weapons, identify co-conspirators and financial backers and determine the full scope of the alleged conspiracy, including possible cross-border links.
The defence opposed the remand, describing the case as ‘politically motivated’. The counsel argued that Amritpal neither led an armed mob nor participated in the attack and pointed out that he has already spent nearly four years in custody, making further recovery of evidence unlikely. The defence also noted that proceedings against co-accused in the same FIR are already at an advanced stage before an Amritsar court, with no recoveries made during the investigation.
An objection was also raised by the defence regarding the prosecution’s reference to the recovery of a ‘palki sahib’ associated with the Guru Granth Sahib, terming the submission inappropriate.
The court directed that the MP be produced again via video conferencing on April 25 and allowed defence counsel access to meet him during the remand period.
“Since the matter concerns the law and order of the state and prosecution wants to know about the facts as who was behind this conspiracy of attack and wants to know about the vehicles and weapons used in it, thus for proper investigation, a two-day police remand of the accused is granted. The superintendent, Central Jail, Dibrugarh, is directed to get the accused medically examined and the report of the same be sent through email in the court on the next date of hearing,” the orders read.
Despite being in custody, Amritpal contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent candidate from Khadoor Sahib and won by a margin of approximately 1.9 lakh votes. He was granted parole in July 2024 to take the oath as a Member of Parliament, marking his only appearance in the lower House so far.
Besides the Ajnala police station siege, the MP faces 12 other cases across Punjab and has been named as the main conspirator in the 2024 murder of social media influencer Gurpreet Singh, alias Hari Nau.
While nine of his accomplices were previously shifted back to Punjab jails, the state government successfully argued for Amritpal’s continued incarceration in Assam.
(With inputs from Surjit Singh in Amritsar).
