Amritpal Singh, a fugitive extremist preacher and supporter of Khalistan, has been focusing on drug addicts and disgruntled ex-servicemen to help him develop a gang that could easily become a terrorist organisation, officials claimed on Thursday, news agency PTI reported.
They claimed that after returning from Dubai, Amritpal Singh established a drug rehabilitation facility in his village of Jallupur Kehra in the Punjabi province's Amritsar district, providing details of his travels and the plans he was reportedly going to carry out at the direction of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
According to the officials, he and his subordinates began searching for former soldiers who had been dismissed from the Army for misbehaviour so that they might be used to teach soldiers how to handle weapons, PTI reported.
Amritpal Singh had a cover of two private security guards when he returned last year and took over the "Waris Punjab De" group following the death of actor-activist Deep Sidhu. By early this year, the number of private security guards had increased to 16.
The shocking aspect was that seven of his personal security guards were young people who had joined his drug rehab facility, according to the officials, who also noted that while they were receiving treatment there, they had received training.
They said that the young people who were accepted to the de-addiction centre were misled, pressured to adopt a gun culture, and incited to follow the example of murdered terrorist Dilawar Singh, who detonated himself and killed former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
The officials argued that targeting rogue ex-servicemen benefited the pro-Khalistan preacher since they already had weapons licences, which may assist his organisation circumvent the law.
They said that two such ex-servicemen, Varinder Singh of the 19 Sikhs and Talwinder Singh of the 3rd Armoured Punjab, were involved in giving guns training to the drug-addicted youth.
The government later invalidated the licences, and Varinder Singh was detained, while Taliwinder Singh remains at large, according to authorities.
Security agencies had raised a red flag when information indicated that Amritpal Singh was stockpiling weapons in drug rehabilitation centres and a gurudwara, as well as grooming young people to carry out suicide strikes, according to sources.
According to a hefty dossier compiled with assistance from several security organisations, Amritpal Singh was primarily involved in grooming young people to become 'Khadkoos' (terrorists).
During the inquiry, guns and ammunition destined for Amritpal Singh's Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF) were confiscated. Police confiscated uniforms and coats, according to authorities.
They went on to say that the firearms and ammo recovered from the radical Sikh preacher's automobile contained 'AKF' marks.
Weapons were claimed to be stashed at multiple de-addiction centres managed by 'Waris Punjab De' as well as the Jallupur Khera Gurdwara in Amritsar, according to authorities.
Amritpal Singh had attended a 'Shaheedi Samagam' of deceased terrorists, referring to them as Panth martyrs, and had promoted gun culture and praised the use of guns.
The preacher is on the run after several of his supporters were apprehended by the Punjab Police in a huge crackdown that began weeks after the assault of the Ajnala police station in Amritsar to secure the release of an arrested colleague. The incident aroused concerns about the likelihood of Khalistani militancy returning to the state that borders Pakistan.