Khalistani separatist leader Amritpal Singh has been flown to Assam’s Dibrugarh jail in a special flight amid tight security arrangements after he surrendered earlier on Sunday to Punjab Police in the state’s Moga.
Prior to his transfer to the jail in Assam’s Dibrugarh, several others arrested in connection with the matter including Amritpal Singh’s aides were brought here which has led many people to wonder as to why the location was chosen.
Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had mentioned that it was police-to-police cooperation and there was no political angle behind this.
Meanwhile, officials have said that the presence of several other gangsters familiar to the separatist organization ‘Waris Punjab De’ as the main reason as to why they were being shifted to Assam’s Dibrugarh Central Jail.
It may be noted that several of Amritpal Singh’s aides including Papalpreet Singh, who had been detained from Punjab’s Hoshiyarpur on April 10 and were charged under the National Security Act, are already being kept at the high-security prison in Assam’s Dibrugharh.
So far, at least nine aides including the uncle of Amritpal Singh, who was the main financer and media advisor for the outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ are being currently kept at the Dibrugarh jail.
According to reports, all of aides of Amritpal Singh who were arrested following Punjab Police’s crackdown on the separatist outfit, have criminal background and are suspected to be former supporters of Deep Sindhu, a Punjabi actor who floated the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit which is now being led by Amritpal Singh.
Moreover, authorities have said that the Dibrugarh jail is one of the most secure prisons in Assam and one of the oldest in the entire northeast. Previously it has also housed several top leaders of the banned militant outfit United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I) during their uprising.
Furthermore, the Dibrugarh jail in Assam is also better equipped to manage inmates with a housing capacity of 680 prisoners, authorities added.
It may be noted that earlier, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had clarified that the reason behind the transfer of Amritpal Singh’s aides to Dibrugarh jail was a part of police-to-police cooperation and that it was not the first time that criminals or fugitives of one state have been transferred to a jail in another state.
