{Killing of Sikh activist} UAPA charges added to FIR against Arsh Dalla and 11 other accused

Three months after Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh was shot dead by two assailants in Hari Nau village in Faridkot district, Punjab Police has added various sections of the Unlawful Activities Act (UAPA) in the FIR against Canadian ‘terrorist’ Arsh Dalla and 11 others defendants.

Faridkot Police filed an application before the court imposing Sections 15,16,17,18,19 and 20 of UAPA against Dalla, Bilal Ahmed Fauji, Guramardeep Singh, Navjot Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Balvir Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Gagandeep Singh Sood, Jashandeep Singh , Lachman Singh, Shimla Singh and Gagandeep Singh.

However, the police did not impose the UAPA section on Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, who is also an accused in the case.

During a press conference in October, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav claimed that Gurpreet was murdered on the orders of jailed MP Amritpal Singh. The police also claimed that gangster-terrorist Arshdeep Dalla was the mastermind behind it. The DGP said that three members of the Arsha Dalla gang, which conducted the reconnaissance, were arrested by the police.

On October 9, Gurpreet Singh was shot dead by four bike-borne attackers while he was returning from the Gurdwara. Gurpreet was a member of Waris Punjab De. The police had earlier registered an FIR on October 10, 2024 at Kotkapura Sadar Police Station under Section. 103 section 1, 126 section 2 and art. 3 section 5 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act and Art. 25 of the Weapons Act.

Initially, during interrogation of the arrested accused, Faridkot police named Dalla and MP Amritpal Singh as accused and Section 111 (organized crime) of BNS along with other relevant sections was added to the FIR.

On November 9, Punjab Police arrested two gunmen – Anmolpreet Singh alias Vishal, a resident of Bhadorh in Barnala and Navjot Singh alias Neetu, a resident of Nijjar road in Kharar. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) also questioned the accused.