Amritpal Singh was targeting rogue ex-servicemen, youngsters to build terrorist outfit
The Hindu
Fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh had been targeting drug addicts and rogue ex-servicemen to help him build a gang that could be easily transformed into a terrorist outfit, officials said
Fugitive radical preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh had been targeting drug addicts and rogue ex-servicemen to help him build a gang that could be easily transformed into a terrorist outfit, officials here said on Thursday.
Giving details of his journey and plans that he was likely to execute at the behest of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), they said Amritpal Singh, upon his return from Dubai, started a drug de-addiction centre at his village Jallupur Kehra in Punjab's Amritsar district.
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In a simultaneous operation, he along with his men started looking for ex-servicemen who had been retired from the Army for bad behaviour so that they could be used for imparting arms training, the officials said.
Immediately after his return last year and him taking over the ' Waris Punjab De' outfit after the death of actor-activist Deep Sidhu, Amritpal Singh had a cover of two private security officers, and by early this year, the number had gone up to 16.
The surprising part was that seven of his personal security officers were youngsters, who had joined his drug de-addiction centre for rehabilitation, the officials said, adding that during their stay there for treatment they had been imparted training.
The youngsters, admitted at the de-addiction centre, were brainwashed and pushed towards gun culture and also incited to choose the path of slain terrorist Dilawar Singh, who blew himself up and killed former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, they said.
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