Amritpal Singh was raising own army, ‘human bomb squads’: 10 points

Amritpal Singh, the ‘fugitive’ pro-Khalistan preacher and the ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief, was trying to raise his own army – the Anandpur Khalsa Force (AKF) – on the lines of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and a human bomb squad.

Amritpal has been at large since the Punjab Police launched a massive crackdown on Saturday and arrested 78 members of his outfit.

Crackdown on Amritpal Singh, Waris Punjab De: Top points

1. Security agencies had alerted after intelligence inputs suggested that Amritpal Singh was using drug de-addiction centres and a gurdwara for stockpiling weapons and preparing youths to carry out suicide attacks, officials told news agency PTI.

2. Inputs from various security agencies suggest that Amritpal, who returned from Dubai last year allegedly at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI and Khalistan sympathisers residing overseas, was mainly engaged in brainwashing youths to become “khadkoos” or human bombs.

3. During the ongoing investigation, several arms and ammunition meant for the so-called AKF were seized, PTI reported. The police also seized uniforms and jackets.

4. The weapons and ammunition seized from the radical Sikh preacher’s car bore ‘AKF’ marking on them.

5. It is suspected that weapons were illegally being stockpiled in several de-addiction centres run by the ‘Waris Panjab De’ and a gurdwara in Amritsar.

6. Reportedly, the youths who were admitted to the de-addiction centres used to be indoctrinated and pushed towards the “gun culture”.

7. The youths were being brainwashed to choose the path of slain terrorist Dilawar Singh, who acted as a human bomb and killed former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

8. The revelation is stunning in the context that Amritpal has recently threatened Union home minister Amit Shah saying he will meet the same fate as that of former prime minister Indira Gandhi if he tried to stop the Khalistan movement.

9. Amritpal used to attend ‘shaheedi samagam’ (memorial events) of slain terrorists where he termed them so-called “martyrs of the Panth” and glorified the use of weapons.

10. “Amritpal Singh, a non-resident Indian who worked as a truck driver in Dubai, is an ISI agent who came in touch with Pakistani spy agency while living in the UAE. He was told to motivate naive young Sikhs in name of religion. There was an understanding that the ISI will spend money and by bringing the Sikhs behind him in the name of Khalistan, he would have a say in Punjab,” said a central intelligence officer, who asked not to be named.