National: A Punjab court has granted a four-day police custody for seven associates of Amritpal Singh, a jailed pro-Khalistani leader, in connection with the 2023 Ajnala police station attack case. The court’s decision was made to facilitate further interrogation and evidence recovery.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Inderjeet Singh, the Punjab Police had initially sought a seven-day remand, but the court only granted four days. The seven accused will be presented before the court again on March 25. The arrested individuals, who were previously detained in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA), were re-arrested upon their release.
The authorities allege that the accused attacked the Ajnala police station with weapons. DSP Singh emphasised the importance of recovering evidence, including vehicles and mobile phones, which the accused may have attempted to destroy. Advocate Ritu Raj Sandhu, representing one of the accused, stated that the police are primarily seeking mobile phones and weapons.
The seven accused have been identified as Basant Singh, Bhagwant Singh Bajekhana, Gurmeet Singh Bukkanwala, Sarabjit Kalsi, Ranjeet Kalsi, Gurinder Pal Singh Gurri Aujla, and Harjeet Singh alias Chacha. Earlier, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court in Dibrugarh had granted transit remand for two accused, Basant Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Gill.
The re-arrest of the seven individuals came immediately after their NSA detention period ended. A 25-member Punjab Police team, led by Superintendent of Police Harinder Singh Gill, had been in Dibrugarh for days to oversee the transfer. Officials confirmed that Kulwant Singh, Harjeet Singh, and Gurinder Pal Singh were released on Wednesday, only to be immediately re-arrested in connection with the Ajnala police station attack case.
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