Family members meet arrested 'Waris Punjab De' activists in Dibrugarh jail

Dibrugarh: Family members of arrested ‘Waris Punjab De’ activists, including its chief Amritpal Singh, arrived here on Thursday and met them at the Dibrugarh Central Jail, an official said.

They made their way to the northeastern state after the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed one family member of the arrested to meet them, he said.

An executive member of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and legal counsel Bhagwant Singh Siyalka, and another lawyer Simranjeet Singh also accompanied the family members.

Simranjeet Singh later told reporters that the arrested persons have been booked under the National Security Act (NSA), with the same allegations against all of them.

He said even the annexures attached to their cases are the same and this seems to be "improbable".

"There is no criminal background of those arrested. It is definitely a conspiracy as there is no reason for them to be booked under the NSA. Amritpal was campaigning against drug abuse and was also engaged in preaching the tenets of Sikhism.

“We have appealed in the high court to quash the charges under the NSA against them and the next date of hearing has been fixed for May 1',” Simranjeet Singh said.

The family members checked into a local hotel, from where they went to a gurdwara before going to the jail in the afternoon, the official said.

A joint team of the Intelligence Bureau and Punjab Police had arrived in Dibrugarh on Tuesday to interrogate radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who has been kept in solitary confinement in the jail since he was brought here on April 23 following his arrest in Punjab.

The team questioned him about the sources of funds received and his links with foreign agencies, a senior police officer said.

Besides Amritpal Singh, nine other activists of ‘Waris Punjab De’, have been brought to the Dibrugarh Central Jail since March 19, after they were arrested from Punjab, following a crackdown on the outfit.

He and his associates have been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.