The Amritpal Threat: Why Home Ministry, Punjab Police Planned His Arrest
NDTV
The Khalistani leader was using de-addiction centres to stockpile weapons illegally sourced from Pakistan, sources said.
The decision to act against Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh was taken by top Home Ministry and Punjab police officials after he led the violent February 24 attack on a police station in Ajnala on the outskirts of the Amritsar city, sources said.
Amritpal and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, had barged into the Ajnala police station, using the Sikh holy book as shields, to extract an assurance from the police that his key aide, kidnapping accused Lovepreet Singh, would be released.
The radical leader had then threatened both Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Sources say that the attack on the police station indicated That Amritpal was succeeding in inciting people under the guise of religion, and was building an independent group of armed supporters.