Punjab Police on Sunday arrested six persons, including the mother and uncle of jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh in Amritsar. Their arrest comes a day before a march scheduled to be taken out seeking Amritpal be shifted from Dibrugarh jail in Assam to a prison in Punjab.
Amritpal, chief of the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, and nine of his associates are currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam. He was arrested in April last year and the stringent National Security Act (NSA) was invoked against him.
Balwinder Kaur, the mother of Amritpal has been sent to judicial custody, Deputy Commissioner of Police Alam Vijay Singh said on Sunday. He said it was a preventive arrest but refused to divulge more details.
Amritpal's uncle Sukhchain Singh and three others have also been held, police said.
Chetna march for shifting of Amritpal
Amritpal's kin and supporters planned to hold the 'Chetna March' from Takht Damdama Sahib in Bathinda on April 8 to demand that Amritpal and nine others be shifted from the jail in Assam to Punjab.
Kaur, who had been on a hunger strike since February 22, said that they would continue the hunger strike till Amritpal and other detainees were brought to a jail in Punjab.
Apart from Amritpal, nine of his associates -- Daljeet Singh Kalsi, Papalpreet Singh, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Varinder Singh Johal, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala, Harjit Singh, Bhagwant Singh, Basant Singh and Gurinderpal Singh Aujla -- have been booked under the NSA.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) condemned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for the police action. Various organisers of the march have been held, including the mother of Amritpal Singh, which is condemnable, SAD spokesman Parambans Singh Romana said.
(With PTI inputs)
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