Dibrugarh./Chandigarh. Jailed radical preacher Amritpal Singh was taken to New Delhi on Friday by a special plane to take oath as an MP, an official said. He said Singh, who won the Lok Sabha election from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib constituency, has been granted four-day parole to take oath.
Singh was taken from Dibrugarh jail to the airport in the early hours amid tight security. He has been lodged in Dibrugarh jail since April last year.
The official said that an eight-member team of Punjab Police led by a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) level officer arrived here on Thursday afternoon to take Singh. He said that a team of Assam Police and district administration took Singh from the jail to the airport.
As per the conditions laid down in the parole order issued by the District Magistrate of Amritsar in Punjab, Singh, his relatives or family members will not make any statement to the media during his stay in the national capital. Singh was arrested from Amritsar on April 23 last year. Singh is the head of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ organisation. He is imprisoned under the National Security Act along with his nine associates.
Singh has also been directed to stay away from activities that endanger national security. After winning the Lok Sabha elections last month, Amritpal Singh, who is in jail, was met by his parents Tarsem Singh and Balwinder Kaur and wife Kirandeep Kaur.
Amritpal won the Khadoor Sahib seat as an independent candidate by defeating Congress’s Kulbir Singh Zira by 1.97 lakh votes.
Ten members of the organization, including Amritpal and one of his relatives, have been in jail for more than a year. These people were arrested under the National Security Act from different parts of Punjab.
My son is not a Khalistan supporter, he should be released immediately: Amritpal’s mother
The mother of jailed hardline Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh has said that her son is not a supporter of Khalistan and he should be released immediately so that he can work on the issues on the basis of which he won the election. Amritpal took oath as a Lok Sabha member on Friday. Meanwhile, celebrations took place in Singh’s native village Jallupur Kheda in Amritsar and Khadoor Sahib parliamentary constituency, where people distributed sweets after Singh’s swearing-in.
Singh and Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who was granted parole to take oath as Lok Sabha members, took oath as MPs amid tight security in the Parliament complex. After completing the formalities, they took oath in the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chamber. They were brought to the Parliament complex by security personnel this morning. Amritpal is lodged in a jail in Dibrugarh district of Assam for offences under the National Security Act (NSA). He was brought to Delhi from Assam on a four-day custody parole for the swearing-in. Talking to reporters in Amritsar, Amritpal’s mother Balwinder Kaur thanked God and said that the ‘sangat’ is happy and celebrating after her son’s swearing-in.
Kaur said at her residence, “We demand that Amritpal be released immediately so that he can thank his supporters and work on the issues on the basis of which he won the elections.” She said that her son’s supporters keep asking when he will come out of jail. She said, “We urge the government that Amritpal should be released immediately.” Amritpal, the head of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ organization, has presented himself as the slain Khalistani radical Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Amritpal was sent to jail under the National Security Act along with nine companions.
Amritpal and his supporters broke the barricades and entered the Ajnala police station on February 23 and brandished swords and guns there. During this time, Amritpal’s supporters clashed with the police in an attempt to free one of their associates who was taken into custody. After this incident, Amritpal was arrested from Rode village in Moga.