Amritpal Singh, a Khalistan supporter, is currently being hunted by Indian police in Punjab after it was discovered he was running a private militia, indoctrinating young Sikh men and using a Mercedes SUV gifted by a drug boss. Singh reportedly hid a large number of weapons and used his drug deaddiction centres as a means of stocking these illegally-sourced weapons from Pakistan, whilst trying to inculcate a radical, violent way of thinking among those at the centre when they were not beaten into submission. The government is preparing charges under the National Security Act against Singh and investigations have shown that Singh had links to Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence which helped him run the drugs business. Investigations are also ongoing to uncover whether Singh had a role in bringing drugs from Pakistan to India. Singh’s arrest comes after a dramatic standoff at a police station last month involving his supporters armed with swords and guns, during which one of his aides was released.
