Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: Radical preacher Amritpal Singh, recently elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib constituency, has been granted a four-day parole to take the oath of office. Singh, who contested the elections from Assam’s Dibrugarh jail, will be on parole from Friday.
Singh, currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Dibrugarh jail, had requested temporary release to be sworn in. His application, submitted to the Punjab Government on June 11, was forwarded to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, resulting in the parole decision.
Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori confirmed the parole, stating, “Amritpal Singh has been granted parole for 4 days or less from July 5 with certain conditions, about which the jail superintendent, Dibrugarh, has been informed.”
In a related development, Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, known as Engineer Rashid, will also be sworn in as MP for the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency. Rashid, who is jailed in connection with the 2017 Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, received approval from the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Both Singh and Rashid are expected to take their oaths in the Speaker’s room on Saturday, pending final approvals from the government and relevant agencies.
Despite the arrangements, Singh’s lawyer and family have not been informed about the exact date of the swearing-in ceremony.
Amritpal Singh, head of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ political group, ran as an Independent and won against Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira by a margin of nearly 200,000 votes. Singh, inspired by Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, has been implicated in several cases involving spreading disharmony, attempted murder, and attacks on police officers.
Singh was arrested in April last year in Punjab’s Moga after a month-long search. His detention, initially set to end on July 24, was extended by another year on June 3, just before the Lok Sabha election results were announced.
