Khalistani Sympathiser Amritpal Singh Shifted To Assam’s High-Security Dibrugarh Central Jail

The IAF special aircraft with Amritpal Singh and Punjab police personnel landed at the Mohanbari airport in Dibrugarh district at around 2.26 pm.

Guwahati: Self-styled radical preacher and Khalistani sympathizer Amritpal Singh, who was arrested from Punjab’s Moga early on Sunday morning by a combined team of Punjab Police and national intelligence, was flown to Assam’s Dibrugarh district, in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, heavily guarded by Punjab police commandos.

The IAF special aircraft with Amritpal Singh and Punjab police personnel landed at the Mohanbari airport in Dibrugarh district at around 2.26 pm.

The most wanted Khalistani leader was in no time whisked away to the Dibrugarh Central Jail in a convoy of dozens of heavily guarded SUVs.

The convoy with Amritpal Singh reached the Dibrugarh Central Jail at around 3.05 pm with the vehicles being taken straight inside the jail premises due to security reasons and also in a bid to avoid the waiting media persons outside the jail from approaching Singh.

The district administration has made elaborate security arrangements in and around the Dibrugarh Central Jail virtually turning it into a fortress.

Dozens of Assam police personnel and troopers of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are manning the Jail premises. Moreover, a total of 57 CCTV cameras have been newly installed in every nook and corner of the jail premises for an increased vigilance.

Amritpal Singh, who has been on the run Since March 18, was finally arrested from Punjab’s Moga on Sunday morning by a combined team of Punjab Police and national intelligence.

Nine other close-aides of Amritpal Singh including Papalpreet Singh, his uncle Harjeet Singh, Daljeet Kalsi, Basant Singh, Gurmeet Singh Bhukhanwala, Bhagwant Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Gurinder Pal Singh and Varinder Singh are already lodged in the Dibrugarh jail.

Amritpal Singh is facing at least six cases currently even as the Punjab Police have invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against him.

The cases have been registered in Amritsar Rural and Jalandhar Rural police districts. His aides and supporters also face multiple cases.

Though the exact reason for shifting Amritpal Singh and nine close aides of the radical preacher to the Dibrugarh Central Jail is not known, a highly-placed source told ABP Live that the jail has enough experience of handling such “organized criminals” as it has done in the past.

Moreover, since the early 1990’s, several top-ranked and hardcore United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) militants have been imprisoned in the Dibrugarh Central Jail.

The security arrangements in this jail are such that it is no easy task for even any hardcore-criminal to escape from here.

Another reason is, there are very few people from the particular community in this prison who would lend them support to escape, whether morale or logistic.