The arrested aides of Khalistani sympathiser and self-styled preacher Amritpal Singh have told investigators that the Waris Punjab De leader head wanted to create a local militia “along the lines of the Lashkar-e-Taiba".
Interrogation details accessed by CNN-News18 further reveal that Amritpal Singh had created the Anandpur Khalsa Force (AKF) in pursuit of that purpose.
The logo of AKF depicts two AK rifles, similar to the flags used by banned terrorist outfits like BKI, KLF and KCF. Each member of this militia group reportedly had a squad number. Arrested associated Harpreet Singh carried the squad number AKF06, sources said.
Sources added that a roll call was also conducted regularly in which the members answered using their AKF squad number.
The idea was to create a terrorist cadre in the name of religion and use force for extortion, land grabbing and solving disputes, said sources. His associates reportedly revealed that this was an easy way of making money and that they used religion as a shield.
Punjab Police also revealed that some sensitive material recovered from an associate of Amritpal Singh indicates that they were involved in “anti-national" activities and were receiving support from across the border in Pakistan.
Authorities had last week suspended internet and SMS services in the state following the police crackdown against elements of Waris Punjab De, headed by Amritpal Singh.
Singh himself, however, gave the police the slip and escaped their dragnet when his cavalcade was intercepted in the Jalandhar district. Police have said that efforts were on to nab the fugitive preacher.
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