Chandigarh: The custody of Amritpal Singh and nine other detainees has been extended for another year. These individuals have been held at Dibrugarh jail in Assam since last year under the National Security Act (NSA). Their detention was extended following the expiration of the previous order.
Under the National Security Act (NSA), a person can be detained for a maximum of one year. Any further detention requires a fresh order based on new grounds of detention.
A Punjab Government functionary, speaking on the condition of anonymity, reportedly told the Indian Express, “The Government of Punjab, Department of Home Affairs and Justice, after taking the consent of the advisory board, confirmed the detention of all ten detainees on June 3, 2024, for a period of 12 months starting from April 23, 2024”.
Iman Singh Khara, the legal advisor of the Waris Punjab De party led by Amritpal Singh, provided additional details. “The phone calling facility from Dibrugarh jail was resumed on Monday after it was discontinued on March 7 due to the Lok Sabha polls. I had a telephonic conversation with two detainees, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala and [Bhagwant Singh alias] Pradhan Mantri Bajeke, who told me that the detention of all ten detainees under the NSA had been extended by a year through an order dated June 3,” Khara said.
The other detainees include Daljit Singh Kalsi, Pappalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal (also known as Rouke), Varinder Singh Johal, Harjit Singh, Basant Singh, and Gurinderpal Singh Aujla.
Notably, just before the expiration of the previous detention order, audio recordings of Amritpal Singh and some other detainees had gone viral in which they called upon people to hold protests to ensure their transfer to jails in Punjab. In response, Amritpal Singh’s parents started a protest demonstration in Amritsar. Additionally, Amritpal Singh and some other detainees began a hunger strike in jail, which was later ended. Amritpal Singh’s parents concluded their protest demonstration after he announced his candidacy for the Lok Sabha elections.
It is not clear yet what fresh grounds are cited for extending the detention.
Amritpal Singh contested the Lok Sabha election from Khadoor Sahib and won the seat with a margin of 197,120 votes, securing a total of 404,430 votes