NEW DELHI: Seven associates of MP Amritpal Singh, who were lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA), have been brought to Punjab on transit remand.
The individuals will be presented in the Ajnala court on Friday, where Punjab Police will seek their remand for further investigation into the 2023 attack on the Ajnala police station.
Advocate Ritu Raj, speaking on the matter, said, "The seven individuals whose NSA detention is ending will be presented today. This includes Bhagwant Singh (alias Pradhan Mantri Bajeke), Daljit Singh Kalsi, and five others. Their custody will be determined in court; we’ll have to wait and see what happens."
In a related development, a senior official revealed earlier that Punjab Police had secured the transit remand, completing the legal transfer of the detainees from Dibrugarh Central Jail to Punjab.
The transfer took place via two separate flights, three of the seven associates were flown together, while the remaining four were sent on a different aircraft.
Earlier, four detainees, Gurmeet Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Daljit Singh Kalsi, and Basant Singh, were released by Dibrugarh jail authorities. However, as soon as they were freed, Punjab Police re-arrested them in connection with a case registered at Ajnala Police Station. The re-arrested individuals were later presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Dibrugarh.
Amritpal Singh, the leader of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, and his nine aides were lodged in the Dibrugarh jail in Assam as NSA was slapped on them two years ago.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Singh contested as an Independent and emerged victorious from the Khadoor Sahib seat in Punjab.
The detainees had been lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail since March 2023, following a crackdown on Amritpal Singh and his associates in Punjab. Authorities had invoked the NSA due to concerns regarding their involvement in activities that could disturb public order and national security.
According to a top Punjab Police official, the inquiry into the 2023 attack incident at the Ajnala police station would continue.