Pro-Khalistan leader Amritpal Singh’s supporters attack police in Punjab’s Ajnala
The HinduArmed with swords, guns and sharp weapons, scores of supporters of the self-styled Sikh preacher and pro-Khalistan propagator Amritpal Singh on Thursday indulged in a scuffle with Punjab police personnel, injuring a few in Amritsar’s Ajnala. The supporters of Mr. Amritpal, who is head of ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, broke a police barricade as they clashed with the police personnel near the Ajnala Police Station, and stormed into the police complex in a “show of strength”. Mr. Amritpal, among others, was recently booked by the Punjab police allegedly for kidnapping, theft and voluntarily causing hurt to a resident of Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district. The revival of Khalistan movement in Punjab may have lost popular support, yet the recent sporadic incidents surrounding the Kahlistan connection in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and the activeness of pro-Khalistan elements, including Mr. Amritpal, has created concern among many who remember the era of armed militant movement in Punjab during 1980s and 1990s.