Amritpal’s one more aide held under NSA; sent to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail
Punjab Police have arrested one more close associate of Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh, who has allegedly been absconding, under the stringent national security act .
Punjab Police have arrested one more close associate of Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh, who has allegedly been absconding, under the stringent national security act (NSA).
The arrested accused, identified as Varinder Singh alias Johal of Johal Raju Singh village in Patti sub-division of Tarn Taran district, had been working as a gunman of Amritpal Singh.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP-Amritsar rural) Satinder Singh confirmed Varinder’s arrest and slapping of NSA against him. According to sources, a team of Punjab Police took Varinder Singh to Dibrugarh’s Mohanbari airport on Monday where they were received by the Assam counterparts.
A senior police official, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “Varinder is also known as Fauji. He was dismissed as a constable from the Indian Army after a criminal case was registered against him.”
In January, Varinder was booked for glorifying weapons on social media and was arrested by Patti Sadar police station in Tarn Taran. Varinder had posted a video of firing from his .12 bore rifle on his Facebook account. After Varinder’s arrest, Amritpal and his associates had protested against the police action outside the police station, but Varinder was sent to the judicial custody.
“After a case was registered against Varinder, we investigated his arm license. It was found that he had also made .315 bore’s license without informing police. The license was made and renewed in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) by Varinder by providing fake documents. When his license was renewed he was already dismissed from his service. A fresh case has also been registered in Poonch (J&K) against him in this regard,” the official said.
The official said Varinder was arrested with the help of Tarn Taran police. Varinder was hiding in the area of Patti Sadar police station since the Punjab Police’s crackdown against the elements of Waris Punjab De.
Varinder’s brother is also working in the Indian Army and is posted in Indore, said the official.
Sources said Varinder was also involved in the Ajnala police station violence case. A mob led by Amritpal Singh had stormed the Ajnala police station in February with a demand of releasing his associate Lovepreet Singh alias Toofan who was arrested under the kidnapping charges. Amritpal and ten more were also nominated in the kidnapping case. During the storming of the police station, six policemen, including superintendent of police (SP) Jugraj Singh, were injured.
Varinder is the eighth associate of Amritpal who has been sent to Assam under the NSA. Earlier, seven associates of the radical preacher, including his uncle Harjit Singh, were taken to Assam.
Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam is one of the oldest and most heavily fortified prisons in Northeast India. During the 1990s, the prison housed top militants.
