Security Beefed Up in Punjab's Bathinda Ahead of Khalsa Chetna March

Authorities have converted the historical city into a police cantonment as a precautionary measure ahead of the proposed march by the Khalsa Chetna from Takht Damadama Sahib to demand the shifting of Khalistani leader and 'Waris Punjab De' Chief Amritpal Singh from the Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam to Punjab.

Bathinda: Ahead of the proposed march by the Khalsa Chetna to demand shifting of Khalistani leader and 'Waris Punjab De' Chief Amritpal Singh from the Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam to Punjab, security has been beefed up in Bathinda as a precautionary measure.

Sources said that the District Police Bathinda has converted the historical city into a police cantonment in a bid to deal with a possible law and order situation. Police are keeping a close watch on the suspected persons entering and exiting the city even as a thorough checking of vehicles is also being conducted by the police. The move comes amid the proposed march by the Khalsa Chetna which was to be taken out from Takht Damadama Sahib in Punjab's Bathinda.

The march was announced by the Khalsa Chetna to demand the shifting of Khalistani leader and chief of 'Waris Punjab De' Amritpal Singh and his associates from the Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam to a jail in Punjab.

Amritpal, was arrested by the police in April last year in the backdrop of the violent storming of a police station in Ajnala by the Khalistani leaders and supporters to demand the release of a Khalistani leader.

After his arrest, the 'Waris Punjab De' chief was booked under the NSA and shifted to the Dibrugarh jail.

Ahead of the Khalsa Chetna march today, authorities on Sunday sent Balwinder Kaur, mother of Amritpal Singh to judicial custody. Kaur, along with the kin of the other detainees had launched a hunger strike in Feb this year demanding that Singh and his associates be shifted from Assam to a jail in Punjab.

Meanwhile, Jathedar of Takht Sri Dum Dama Sahib Giani Harpreet Singh condemned the police restrictions in strong words.

Singh said that the police restrictions “amounts to violating the human rights of Sikhs”. “They are being sent to state jails, from which it is clear that Sikhs are considered second-class citizens in this country and those who talk about Sikhs are sent to jail,” he added.