Amritsar: Sword-wielding alleged Khalistan supporters clash with police

Hundreds of supporters of Amritpal Singh an alleged Khalistanrsquo sympathizer on Thursday clashed with police in Amritsar after Singhrsquos aide Lovepreet Toofan was arrestedThe protesting lsquosupportersrsquo burst through the barricades brandishing swords and other weapons and broke into a police station in AnjalaThe protest was led by Singh who sought the release of Toofan before midnightMeanwhile the police has increased security around the police station where Toofan is detainedThe late activist and actor Deep Sidhu founded a group called Waris Punjab De It is now led by Singh Varinder Singh a native of Chamkaur Sahib in the Rupnagar district was allegedly kidnapped and beaten by Singh and his followers and a case had been filed against themSingh told reporters that the FIR filed against Toofan had a political motive He also threatened to use force if the FIR wasnt droppedThe FIR was solely filed for political reasons The administration will be in charge of the consequences if the FIR is not withdrawn he saidAccording to reports Singh recently threatened Union Home Minister Amit Shah warning that he will suffer the similar fate as that of former Prime Minister Indira GandhiAlso readSupreme Court directs release of Congress leader Pawan Khera on interim bail till Feb 28On Thursday morning the National Investigation Agency NIA arrested six people including a close aide of a designated terrorist in connection with its cases related to unholy nexus between criminal gangs terror groups and drug mafia an official spokesperson saidThe arrests came after the NIA carried out raids at 76 locations in eight states on Tuesday to bust the nexusThose arrested include Lucky Khokhar alias Denis a close associate of Canadabased designated terrorist Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh DalaOthers arrested in the raids which were carried out in Punjab Haryana Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh DelhiNCR Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh included associates of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Goldy BrarKhokhar a resident of Bathinda Punjab was nabbed from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan on Tuesday He was in direct and frequent contact with Arsh Dala and had carried out recruitment for him besides receiving funds for terrorrelated activities the NIA saidHe had also provided arms and ammunition to Arsh Dalas associates in Punjab that were also used for carrying out a murder recently in Jagraon on the directions of the Canadabased terroristThe NIA had registered a suo moto case on August 20 last year against seven people including Harwinder Singh alias Rinda Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa and Arsh Dala One person Deepak Ranga was earlier arrested in the case by the NIA