Security tightened in Assam's Dibrugarh as Amritpal to be shifted to prison

Security has been beefed up in Dibrugarh as pro-Khalistan radical preacher Amritpal Singh will be shifted to a prison in the Upper Assam town from Punjab on Sunday, police said.

Punjab Police Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said Amritpal Singh will be taken to Dibrugarh under the National Security Act (NSA).

A multi-tier security arrangement has been made at the Central Jail in Dibrugarh where Singh will be lodged, a senior official told PTI. "The jail compound has been surrounded by Assam Police's elite Black Cat Commandos, CRPF and jail security personnel.

The security inside the prison has also been tightened," he said. Dibrugarh Traffic Police has also been alerted for road clearance from the airport to the prison, a 15-km stretch. A special team is in place along with policemen in plain clothes.

According to sources, Singh is being brought aboard a special flight, which took off from Bathinda at 8.25 am. Singh was arrested by the Punjab Police around 6.45 am from Rode village in the northern state after remaining absconding for more than a month.

Altogether nine of his associates are presently lodged at Dibrugarh Central Jail. Security in and around the jail premises have been beefed up since March 19, when four members of the Waris Punjab De (WPD) were brought here in the first batch.