Punjab govt extends detention of Amritpal, aides under NSA by a year

The Punjab government has extended detention of radical Sikh preacher and Khadoor Sahib MP-elect Amritpal Singh, 31, and his nine aides by a year under the stringent National Security Act (NSA)

CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR : The Punjab government has extended detention of radical Sikh preacher and Khadoor Sahib MP-elect Amritpal Singh, 31, and his nine aides by a year under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).

Arrested on April 23 last year after a month-long case from a village in Moga, the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief, Amritpal Singh, and his associates are lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the NSA.

The Punjab government’s home affairs and justice department ordered the extension on June 3 -- a day before the Lok Sabha election results came out.

The details of the order were revealed to the media on Wednesday.

The NSA allows the government to detain people for up to 12 months without charging them.

Arrested on April 23 last year after a month-long case from a village in Moga, the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief and his associates are lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the NSA. The detention came following the operation undertaken by the Centre and Punjab in the crackdown launched on March 18, 2023, against the radical Sikh preacher.

Amritpal won the recently held Lok Sabha election from the Khadoor Sahib seat as an Independent defeating his nearest rival, Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira, by a margin of 1,97,120 votes.

The detention of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief and three associates was expiring on July 24, and that of his six other aides on June 18, people aware of the matter said.

It is for the second time that Amritpal and his accomplices’ custody has been extended by Punjab government. After Amritpal completed his one-year under the NSA in April this year, the Punjab government had extended the custody for three months.

The order to extend the detention of ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief and his aides was issued by the Punjab government’s department of home affairs and justice a day before the results of Lok Sabha polls.

The department, after taking consent of the advisory board, headed by a retired judge of the Delhi high court, extended the detention order of all 10 detainees on June 3 for a period of 12 months starting from April 23, 2024, said an official requesting anonymity.

The Punjab government has constituted the advisory board specifically to look into the detention and appeals by detainees as per the existing provisions of the NSA.

The order, a copy of which is with HT, quoted the opinion of the board as saying: “On the basis of the facts and circumstances of this report, the advisory board is of the opinion that there is sufficient cause for the detention of the detenue Amritpal Singh Sandhu @Amritpal Singh under provisions of National Security Act, 1980.”

“After considering the report of the advisory board, detention order dated March 13, 2024, passed by district magistrate, Amritsar, and approved on March 24, 2023, by state government under the National Security Act in relation to the detenue Amritpal Singh is hereby confirmed under Section 12 (1) of National Security Act (NSA) for the detenue to be detained for a period of 12 months from April 24, 2024, i.e. from the date when grounds of detention were conveyed to him and he was consequently detained,” reads the order.

Human rights activists advocate Rajwinder Singh Bains and advocate Imaan Singh Khara said they will challenge the order in a court.

According to a senior government functionary, Punjab Police gave fresh grounds of keeping Amritpal and his aides in detention before the board. These fresh grounds include threat to national security and law and order problem in Punjab.

Reacting to the development, Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh said: “This is sheer violation of human rights. Keeping a person who is loved by the people and who is elected as their representative in Parliament with such a big mandate behind bars under the NSA is unacceptable. This is clear-cut case of excess by the government against the Sikhs.”

“If the state government does not revoke the detention order, we will launch the peaceful agitation across Punjab”, he said, adding, “As per our knowledge, the rule allows only three-month extension, but we don’t know how the government has extended it for a year.”

After winning the elections, Amritpal wrote to the Punjab government through the Amritsar district magistrate seeking temporary release so that he could take oath as an MP.

Amritpal, who is a follower of slain militant preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, had made controversial statements prior to Punjab Police March 18, 2023, crackdown against him and was seen openly roaming around with armed guards across Punjab. The tipping point came when a mob, being led by Amritpal, stormed the Ajnala police station to secure a release of his associate. The mob injured senior police officials with sharp-edged weapons and also vandalised government property.

Amritpal has multiple FIRs registered against him in Punjab, including hurting religious sentiments, assault, criminal conspiracy, among others, and the one registered by the Ajnala police in Amritsar.