Chandigarh, April 11 (IANS) Papalpreet Singh, a close aide of Khalistan sympathiser and Lok Sabha MP from Khadoor Sahib, Amritpal Singh, who was arrested by Punjab Police after his two-year detention under the National Security Act (NSA) ended, was produced in a court in Ajnala which sent him to four-day police remand on Friday.
As his detention ended, Papalpreet Singh, who was arrested in a police operation in Hoshiarpur on April 10, 2023, was brought back to Punjab from Assam's Dibrugarh jail. He was charged along with others, including Amritpal Singh, for storming a police station in Ajnala town in Amritsar district in February 2023, demanding the release of one of their close associates, Lovepreet Toofan.
However, his family members claimed that no damage was done to the police station and that he only tried to stop drug use in Punjab. They claimed he only tried to stop drug abuse. “It is clearly in front of the world. He tried to keep people away from drugs and encouraged them to learn their Gurus’ preaching, ” Papalpreet’s mother, Mandhir Kaur, said, and demanded that he should be released.
Papalpreet’s uncle, Amarjeet Singh, questioned how many were charged under the NSA during the 1984 riots or during the Vadodara riots in Gujarat. “Papalpreet is a journalist, ” he added.
Papalpreet Singh was hiding in a ‘dera’ in a village in Hoshiarpur, from where he was arrested in a joint operation of Punjab Police and the special cell of Delhi Police. He and others have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
Khalistan sympathizer Amritpal Singh, along with his nine aides, was detained and kept in Dibrugarh Jail. After staying there since 2023, nine, except the Member of Parliament, have been released from jail. Papalpreet has long advocated for the Khalistan movement that calls for an independent homeland for Sikhs.