Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh has said that the incident concerning Ajnala police station in Amritsar on February 23 could have been avoided if police were alert and his aide Lovepreet Singh Toofan had not been arrested.
Amritpal Singh said in an interview with ANI that incident and subsequent release of Lovepreet Singh will "change the course of the future".
Amritpal Singh's supporters, some of them brandishing swords and other weapons, stormed Ajnala police station on Thursday over their demand for the release of Lovepreet Singh.
Asked about Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav's remarks that there will be action regarding the Ajnala incident, Amritpal Singh said that the senior police official cannot say he was not aware of the case.
"We are going through the cycle...They way it happened before, it could have been avoided if they were alert. The DGP could not say that he did not know about the case. It was not that he did not know about the case. The decision could have been made earlier. The guy should not have been arrested. We will not run away and hide somewhere. It's not that I am going to hide somewhere. No, I will not. I will get killed. I will face everything, I will not hide anywhere," he said.
Amritpal Singh said Punjab Police acted in a hurry based on wrong intelligence reports and authorities gave false information about him that he does not have support.
"When I am going to the public, this could happen any day if you have enough evidence to charge me. What they did was in hurry and based on wrong intelligence reports. I don't show everything on social media. They had some pressure and gave false information to the Central government that Amritpal Singh does not have any support in Punjab and he is isolated," he said.
"I have seen the news....(stating) Amritpal is desperate and isolated. Are they trying to test my patience or capability? Such nonsense case. I told them, don't do this. I know there will be consequences. What happened yesterday will change the course of future. Everything changes everything. But what can I do about this? Yesterday, whatever happened could have been avoided. Talk to the police secretly someday, they love me....I never interrupted them... I kind of have power, but never did that (disrespected the authorities)...I let them do their duty," he added.
Thousands of supporters of Amritpal Singh had on Thursday staged a massive demonstration in Amritsar to protest against the arrest of Lovepreet Singh Toofan.
The supporters holding swords and guns in their hands broke through police barricades erected outside Ajnala Police Station.
The police later said that "in the light of the evidence presented before us, it has been decided that Lovepreet Toofan will be discharged."
Lovepreet Singh was released from jail on Friday following orders of a court in Ajnala on an application by the police.
A day after the Ajnala incident in which some policemen were injured, DGP Gaurav Yadav said that appropriate action will be taken against the people involved.
Referring to Operation Blue Star, Amritpal said that it was a moment of "trauma" for Sikhs and continues to be.
"When Golden temple was attacked and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was killed, it might have been a happy moment for many people, but it was a trauma for Sikhs. It is still a trauma. You don't care about the judgment of law and society because you are the society. Not a single Hindu was attacked in Punjab.......When (former Prime Minister) Indira Gandhi was killed, Sikhs...were attacked," he alleged.
Amritpal Singh, a Khalistan sympathizer, said allegations were made against Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, and huge money was spent "to destroy his image".
"When someone is in the power, they have the power to make anything evil. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is evil in the eyes of the Indian people, and Indira Gandhi might be a hero. But that does not change the idea of us. We will love him. India has control over all the resources to make him evil and it did it. Billions of dollars were spent to destroy his image and to put allegations against him. But what happened? There is no village here that will not have his pictures. Youth is inspired, they did not see him. But what happens? The suppression finds its way come out of slavery," Amritpal Singh said.
Bhindranwale was the head of the Sikh religious sect Damdami Taksal. He was killed along with his armed followers during Operation Blue Star launched by the Indian Army at the Golden Temple complex.
Amritpal Singh also said that steps should be taken to make policing system better.
"The Indian people should reconsider the policing system in the country. It is still pre-1947. The way they interrogate people, they way they pick them up, the way they work. Courts are filled with such cases because the policing system is not right. It's not the problem of the police, but of law. They have to change the law to make policing system better and make things more transparent," he said.
