Punjab Police chief: Action being taken for attack on cops in Ajnala
DGP Gaurav Yadav says police exercised restraint as radical Sikh leader Amritpal and his supporters attacked cops in “a cowardly manner under the garb of Guru Granth Sahib”
Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav on Friday said that action is being taken against protesters who attacked policemen at Ajnala police station on Thursday to secure the release of radical Sikh leader Amritpal Singh’s aide, Lovepreet Singh, in a kidnap and assault case.
Also read: Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal’s aide released after Punjab court order
“Videos of the incident are being analysed by police,” the director general of police said at a press conference in Chandigarh hours after Lovepreet Singh walked free from Amritsar central jail.
“The protesters attacked the police in a cowardly manner under the garb of Guru Granth Sahib,” Yadav said.
“The police could have opened fire and it could have led to more issues that is why we acted in utmost restraint. Six policemen, including former national hockey player and SP Jugraj Singh, were injured in the incident,” he said.
He said the police were assured of a peaceful protest by Amritpal and his supporters but they took the alibi of Guru Granth Sahib to break barricades.
“Statements of police personnel are being taken to take legal action,” the DGP said.
On Thursday, Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh’s supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke though barricades and laid siege to the police station in Ajnala on the outskirts of Amritsar city, extracting an assurance from the police that Lovepreet Singh will be released.
Punjab Police then moved an application before the court for discharging Lovepreet on grounds that the investigation found that he was not present at the spot when the offence was committed.