Amritpal Singh's aide Lovepreet walks out of Amritsar jail, day after storming of police station

On Thursday, Amritpal Singh's supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and stormed the police station complex

Radical preacher Amritpal Singh's aide and kidnapping accused Lovepreet Singh 'Toofan' walked out of jail here Friday, a day after hundreds of protesters stormed a police station to extract an assurance that he would be released.

The local court ordered his discharge, basing its decision on an appeal filed by the police. In a volte-face, the police had submitted that their investigations did not indicate that Toofan was at the spot where the alleged abduction took place.

Critics see Toofan’s release as a sign of the state’s Aam Aadmi Party government succumbing to pressure from Sikh radicals.

"Nip the evil in the bud," Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had said Thursday when protesters brandishing swords and firearms barged into Ajnala police station on the outskirts of Amritsar, forcing the police to cave in.

"What we are seeing today is reminiscent of the past which every Punjabi is scared of," he said, in an apparent reference to the violent “Khalistan” agitation in the 1980s. Amritpal Singh, who heads an organisation called “Waris Punjab De” is often described as a Khalistan sympathiser.

Asked in Chandigarh whether a case has been registered in connection with Thursday's violence, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said video footage from the scene is being analysed and statements of the six injured policemen will be recorded.

But the preacher remained defiant, warning that a protest will be held again if any action is taken.

“I want to tell the DGP that if they take any illegitimate action, it will again lead to protests,” he told reporters in Amritsar.

The police must take action against those who lodged a “fake FIR” against his supporters, he said.

DGP Yadav said the force had acted with “utmost restraint” the previous day as the protesters were carrying a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib in a procession. “Had police opened fire, it would have led to more issues,” he said.

"The Punjab Police is a battle-hardened force and we have won a victory against terrorism. We have maintained harmony in Punjab and the state will continue to fight the nation's battle... this conspiracy shall not be allowed to succeed," he said.

Earlier, after the court issued its order, the preacher told reporters that Toofan’s release was a "victory of the panth (Sikh faith)”.

In its order, the court said Lovepreet Singh was being discharged from judicial custody as he was no more required by the investigating officer.

“A direction is issued to the SHO concerned to conduct investigation in the case and submit its report. Necessary intimation be sent to Superintendent of Jail, Amritsar, in this regard," Manpreet Kaur, Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Ajnala, said in her order.

A long cavalcade of vehicles led by Amritpal Singh had headed towards the jail from Ajnala town to receive Lovepreet Singh. The procession later made its way to the Golden Temple.

A case was registered in Ajnala on February 16 against Amritpal Singh and 30 supporters for allegedly kidnapping and thrashing Barinder Singh, a resident of Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district.

Barinder Singh had told police that the preacher’s associates abducted him, took him to an unknown place and then thrashed him brutally. The case was registered on the basis of this complaint, police said.

Some people mentioned in the FIR had said they were not involved, and were assured by the Amritsar (Rural) SSP that police will not press charges against those not found at fault, the DGP told reporters.

The police permitted Thursday’s demonstration after getting assurances that it would be peaceful, he said.

But under the cover of the “palki sahib” carrying the Guru Granth Sahib, the protesters attacked police in a “cowardly manner” with sharp-edged weapons and pelted stones, he said.

The preacher, however, blamed the police for the clash.

"Yesterday's situation could have been averted had the police listened to us,” he said, adding that they had given the administration a Wednesday deadline for Toofan’s release.

"We had given enough evidence pertaining to Lovepreet Singh's and our innocence," he said.

Amritpal Singh became head of ‘Waris Punjab De’ after its founder, actor-activist Deep Sidhu, died in a road accident last year. The event marking his elevation was held at Moga's Rode, the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Recently, he also issued a threat to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, referring indirectly to the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.