'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh, who was arrested on early Sunday morning from Rode village in Moga, was brought to Air Force Station in Bathinda by the Punjab Police before being shifted to Assam's Dibrugarh central jail.
Nine of Amritpal's aides - Daljit Singh Kalsi, Papalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Varinder Singh Johal, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala, Harjit Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Basant Singh and Gurinderpal Singh Aujla - have been lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam and charged under the stringent National Security Act.
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“He is an NSA subject and will be taken to Dibrugarh,” a police officer said.
Slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale hailed from Rode village and Amritpal Singh was last year anointed the head of 'Waris Punjab De' outfit at an event held in this village.
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While the reason behind Amritpal Singh’s transit to Assam is still unknown, some reports indicate that the Dibrugarh jail has heavily fortified and was used to hold top militants during the peak of ULFA militancy in Assam. Dibrugarh central jail is considered the most secure prison in the state and one of the oldest prisons in northeast India.
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{{/usCountry}}While the reason behind Amritpal Singh’s transit to Assam is still unknown, some reports indicate that the Dibrugarh jail has heavily fortified and was used to hold top militants during the peak of ULFA militancy in Assam. Dibrugarh central jail is considered the most secure prison in the state and one of the oldest prisons in northeast India.
Follow Live Updates on Amritpal Singh's arrest
{{/usCountry}}It is also said it will be difficult for any prisoner to escape from the jail due to the strict security arrangements.
Also, the reason for shifting Amritpal and his aides to Assam instead of being taken to Punjab or Delhi jails could be the presence of other gangsters familiar to the separatist group.
According to people familiar with the matter, the Punjab government initially thought of sending Amritpal aides to Delhi’s Tihar jail, but because the Delhi prison houses many Punjabi gangsters, even some separatists , the government decided to send them to Assam.
In 2021, the Jammu and Kashmir administration did something similar by sending people arrested under the Public Safety Act to a jail in Agra. This ensured the arrested men were lodged in a prison from their home states, where there are chances of other inmates, sometimes even jail officials helping them.
Over the past month, though, it has been converted to a maximum high-security prison.
“We now have CRPF personnel guarding the jail round-the-clock. There are also commandos from the Assam Police. 57 CCTV cameras monitor the prisoners inside and the movement of visitors at the jail gates. Our teams fixed non-functional CCTV camera and set up high-mast lights when we were informed that the NSA-prisoners from Punjab would be brought here,” said a jail official who asked not to be named.
A second jail official said that, unlike other jails, the Dibrugarh jail is not packed to its maximum capacity and jail officials are better equipped to manage the inmates here. The jail has a sanctioned capacity of 680 prisoners, but has fewer than 430 prisoners.