Days after the central agencies flagged the activities of self-styled preacher and Khalistani sympathizer Amritpal Singh in Punjab as “very serious”, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is set to meet the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday at the national capital. The meeting will come a day after the state Governor Banwarilal Purohit met Shah on Wednesday to discuss the law and order situation in the border state.
 
Union Home Minister will discuss the prevailing law and order situation in the state with the Chief Minister, especially in the wake of the recent incident where the protesting supporters of Amritpal Singh stormed into Ajnala police station to secure the release of an arrested associate, leaving six policemen seriously injured.
 
It has been learnt that Shah, in about half an hour-long meeting with Purohit, sought complete details regarding the current state of affairs in Punjab, considering it being a border state, sharing borders with the warring neighbours. The Governor, who had in the recent past, conducted visit to the state’s border districts, and raised concerns over the drug menace and security, especially in the wake of increased drone movement from across the border.
 
Sources informed The Pioneer that the Chief Minister’s meeting with the Union Home Minister has been scheduled at 3:30 pm, in which Mann will apprise Amit Shah about the law and order situation in Punjab. The meeting come a day before the commencement of Vidhan Sabha’s budget session.
 
The meeting, it has been informed, was scheduled after the Ajnala clashes, and the intensified activities and increased support base of Khalistan-supporter Amritpal Singh, who is heading an outfit ‘Waris Punjab De’ floated by the deceased actor Deep Sidhu.
 
Following the February 23 Ajnala incident, central agencies raised concerned over Amritpal Singh’s activities, including the siege of a police station in Ajnala to free his aide, Lovepreet Singh Toofan.
 
The agencies claimed that Amritpal Singh is getting “ideological” support from radical elements based in the UK and Canada, besides small pockets in Europe. However, they maintained that Waris Punjab De head does not have the cult following enjoyed by slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale so far.
 
In fact, the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also recently submitted that some people, who want to disturb Punjab’s peace and harmony, are getting funds from abroad.
 
The central agencies are working on finding who is funding him and in what way. Besides, the agencies are also probing the high number of automatic weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, carried by Amritpal’s supporters for their origin. Even his social media campaigns and how his followers operate are being looked at.
 
Amritpal, a Khalistani supporter, has been openly advocating a separate homeland for the Sikhs—similar to what Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale did in early 1980s. Moreover, the agencies are concerned considering Amritpal’s sudden rise.
 
The central agencies have also mapped the life journey of Amritpal from the time he left Punjab as a clean-shaven youth to earn a living in the UAE. Amritpal got baptized and found his new thoughts before returning to India.