New Delhi: Lovepreet Toofan, a close aide of self-styled preacher and head of 'Waris Punjab De' Amritpal Singh, will be released, said Amritsar Senior Superintendent of Police on Friday, a day later of his arrest. This comes a day after supporters of Waris Punjab De went on a rampage in Punjab's Amritsar. Armed with swords, lathis, and guns, the supporters broke barricades and and gathered outside Ajnala police station protesting Toofan's arrest.
Earlier in the day, heavy police force was deployed in the area where the supporters had staged the massive protest.
Lovepreet Toofan is being released as the evidence they produced established that he was not present on the spot. We are submitting that to the court. Force deployed as a precautionary measure and the situation is under control, the SSP told news agency ANI.
The Punjab Police had recently registered an FIR against the Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh as well as his associates on charges including abduction and rioting.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by one Barinder Singh, a resident of Salempur village in Chamkaur Sahib, who said that he was beaten up by Amritpal and his men.
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Amritpal Singh has also been in the news recently for his remarks on Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Singh, had said Shah’s "fate will be similar to that of former prime minister Indira Gandhi", according to a PTI report.
In September last year, Amritpal was made the head of a faction of Waris Punjab De, a social organisation founded by late Punjabi actor and lawyer Deep Sidhu, who died in a road accident in February last year.
Amritpal Singh was born in Jallupur Khera of Punjab. He recently married UK-based NRI Kirandeep Kaur.