Amritsar was on the boil on Thursday after followers of Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, head of outfit 'Waris Punjab De', wielding swords and guns clashed with cops outside Ajnala Police Station. The clash took place while hundreds of supporters of the radical leader were protesting against the arrest of Singh's close aide Lovepreet Toofan.
The protest site soon turned into a battlefield as the agitators, armed with swords and guns, broke through a police barricade outside Ajnala Police Station and clashed with cops. The protest led to a huge traffic jam on the Amritsar-Delhi national highway.
A heavy police force has been deployed in the area.
So, Who Is Amritpal Singh?
Amritpal Singh is the head of 'Waris Punjab De', an outfit founded by actor-activist Deep Sidhu, who died in a road accident in February last year. Amritpal Singh became the chief of the group after Sidhu's death. Deep Sidhu came into the spotlight last year when he was arrested for violence during farmer protests on Republic Day.
Amritpal Singh, a self-styled preacher who claims to represent the Sikh community, was born in Jallupur Khera of Punjab. He recently married UK-based NRI Kirandeep Kaur.
He claims to be a spiritual leader and his fiery oratory skills and promise to free the youth from the clutches of drug menace has garnered him a large following in Punjab and other parts of India.
Amritpal calls slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale his "inspiration". He even dresses like the slain militant and copies his mannerisms, a report in The Indian Express said.
The controversial leader worked for 10 years in Dubai in his family-owned transport business. He shot into the limelight when he came out in support of the farmers' agitation against the now-repealed farm reform laws.
Last year in December, supporters of Amritpal Singh vandalised the Model Town Gurdwara in Jalandhar by burning chairs and sofas, saying that keeping them in gurudwaras was against the tenets of Sikhism. Another gurdwara at Biharipura village in Kapurthala district was also vandalised.
READ | Supporters Of 'Waris Punjab De' Chief Break Through Police Barricades Brandishing Guns — WATCH
Why Amritpal Singh's Supporters Were Protesting Today?
Amritpal Singh has several cases of kidnapping, theft lodged against him. He was recently booked by Punjab Police for abducting and assaulting a Sikh youth. His aide has been arrested in the case.
The Sikh youth who was beaten up, Varinder Singh, is a resident of Ropar district of Punjab. He had done a Facebook Live against Amritpal Singh and accused him of misleading Sikhs. Angered by this, Amritpal and his associates thrashed him. Following this, police registered an FIR on Varinder Singh's complaint.
He is already on the Centre's radar after the Home Ministry recently wrote to the Punjab government expressing concern over the alleged suspicious activities of Amritpal.
Singh had issued a threat recently to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying he would meet the same fate as that of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, PTI reported.