Radical preacher Amritpal's brother arrested in drug case

Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh's brother Harpreet Singh and two others have been arrested by Jalandhar police in a drug case, officials said on Friday.

Harpreet Singh alias Happy was nabbed along with another accomplice, identified as Lovepreet Singh alias Luv, on Thursday evening while the duo was preparing to "consume" drugs, Senior Superintendent of Police (Jalandhar Rural) Ankur Gupta said in Jalandhar.

One more person identified as Sandeep Arora, a resident of Ludhiana's Haibowal area, from whom the duo had allegedly procured the drug, has also been arrested, the SSP said.

Four grams of ICE (methamphetamine) drug was recovered during checking of the car in which Harpreet Singh and Lovepreet Singh were present, Gupta said.

A case under provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been registered in the matter, he added.

SSP Gupta said that Punjab Police has been running a special drive against drugs.           

"During patrolling, a suspicious car with dark panes and a mesh was found parked on one side of the national highway in Phillaur," he said.

"Two persons, identified as Lovepreet Singh alias Luv, son of Gurpreet Singh, under Beas police station in Amritsar district, was at the driver's seat. Another person in the car was identified as Harpreet Singh alias Happy, son of Tarsem Singh, Jallupur Khera, Amritsar district," the SSP said.  

"The car was searched in the presence of a DSP and methamphetamine drug weighing 4 grams was recovered. A lighter, silver foil and some other articles were also recovered," Gupta said.

He said that the duo had bought the drug from a man identified as Sandeep Arora from Ludhiana. "They had even made a payment of Rs 10,000 digitally to him and procured the drug from him," the SSP said.

When the police caught the duo, they were preparing to consume the drug, Gupta said, adding that their dope test was positive.

Another police official said that during the checking of the car, a small polythene was recovered from Harpreet Singh and the drug kept inside was seized.

From Lovepreet Singh, two lighters, a silver foil paper and a pipe for consuming the drug were recovered, the official said.

Harpreet Singh is aged between 30-35 and "was into some dispatching work in transport", he said. Both him and Lovepreet Singh hail from Amritsar, the official added.

Meanwhile, reacting to his son's arrest, Harpreet Singh's father Tarsem Singh alleged that it was a "big conspiracy to defame our family".

"We have been raising our voice against drug menace and it could be a trap, a conspiracy to defame our family," Tarsem Singh said in Amritsar.

He claimed that Harpreet Singh left home at around 1 pm on Thursday and was alone at that time.

"After a few hours, when we tried to contact him, his phone was switched off," Tarsem Singh said.

"We don't know how he reached the Jalandhar area," he added.

Tarsem Singh said that they did not get any information about Harpreet Singh's arrest from the government or the police and learnt about it from the media.

Harpreet Singh's brother Amritpal Singh is currently lodged in a prison in Assam's Dibrugarh district for offences under the National Security Act (NSA). Recently, Amritpal was flown to Delhi on a four-day custody parole for taking oath as a Lok Sabha member.         

Having fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an independent, Amritpal Singh won from the Khadoor Sahib seat defeating Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira.

Amritpal Singh, who heads the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit and has styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was jailed along with nine of his associates under the NSA.

He was arrested in Moga's Rode village after he and his supporters on February 23 last year barged into the Ajnala police station breaking barricades, brandishing swords and guns, and clashed with police personnel in an attempt to free one of his aides from custody.