SGPC Claims Crackdown on Amritpal Singh to Gain Political Mileage Ahead of Punjab Bypoll

A member of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has alleged that the crackdown on Amritpal Singh was for political mileage before the upcoming bypolls in Punjab. Singh was arrested last weekend in Moga and shifted to Dibrugarh prison in Assam.

Bhagwant Singh Sialka, an advocate and a member of the SGPC stated that the arrest of Amritpal Singh and the crackdown on ‘Waris Punjab De’ activist group was done to gain political mileage before the upcoming bypolls in Punjab. “The situation is good there. The bypolls are coming up in Punjab, and these things were done by the government to get political mileage. Nothing else,” he said.

Sialka was present at Dibrugarh prison along with an SGPC team as well as the members of the family of the detainees. “We have come here with the family members of the detainees. Now there are 10 detainees; eight family members of them have arrived,” Sialka said. The team and the family members will meet the detainees and then return to Punjab.

Furthermore, the SGPC is preparing to challenge the arrests of Amritpal Singh and his associates under the National Security Act (NSA) in the High Court. Sialka stated that they will wait to see what happens with the case while it is with the board, after which they will challenge it in the Hight Court.

Vineet Washington