Intelligence agencies say Amritpal Singh has been sourcing weapons from Pakistan. (File)
Radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who has been on the run since March 18, was taken to Dibrugarh Central Jail hours after he surrendered before the Punjab police on Sunday. Eight of his aides are already imprisoned in the highly secure jail, which is among the oldest and most-secure prisons in the northeast.
The reason why Amritpal Singh and his aides have been taken to the other end of the country is that North Indian jails are more likely to have gangsters associated with him or the separatist movement, sources said.
The language barrier is another reason to prevent the accused from connecting with other inmates and jail staff, sources said, adding that Dibrugarh is a very secure prison. Furthermore, the local Sikh community is not sympathetic to the Khalistan movement, they said.
Dibrugarh Jail has also never had a major prison break incident in its nearly 170-year history, furthering its reputation of being an extremely secure prison. The jail's location at the centre of Dibrugarh town is also an advantage for authorities to stop any escape attempts, sources added, as opposed to a location on the outskirts of town or remote areas.
Security around the jail premises has been strengthened since March 19 when four members of the 'Waris Punjab De' (WPD) were brought in. Now, the jail reportedly has 24-hour three-tier security.
"The jail compound has been surrounded by Assam Police's elite Black Cat Commandos, CRPF and other security personnel," an official told news agency PTI.
Furthermore, local media reports claim that new CCTV cameras have been installed in front of the cells holding Amritpal Singh's aides, and malfunctioning cameras have also been repaired or replaced.
A heavily-guarded convoy reached the prison with Amritpal Singh from Dibrugarh airport at around 2.20 pm today from Bhatinda. Officials told PTI that a multi-tier security arrangement has been made at the Central Jail.
Constructed by the British in 1860, the jail has a population of 680 prisoners, as per the fortnightly prison population records released by the Assam government. Dibrugarh Jail is currently the third most populated central prison in the state, surpassed only by the central jails in Guwahati and Tezpur. Dibrugarh Central Jail was also historically at the center of Assam's ULFA insurgency and several top leaders of the group were imprisoned there.
Earlier on Sunday, Punjab Police Inspector General Sukhchain Singh Gill said Amritpal Singh would be taken to Dibrugarh under the National Security Act (NSA).
Intelligence agencies say Amritpal Singh has been sourcing weapons from Pakistan through its spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence and trying to divide Punjab on communal lines. Amritpal Singh had been allegedly leading young people towards "gun culture".
He and his associates were booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempt to murder, attack on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.