GUWAHATI: Pro-Khalistan self-styled preacher and 'Waris de Punjab' head Amritpal Singh, who had been arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) by the Punjab Police on April 23, had supposedly staged a hunger strike in Assam's Dibrugarh Central Jail but claims have been refuted by top authorities.
His nine associates, who are also detained in the same jail under the stringent provisions of the NSA, are also not eating food reportedly.
According to Kirandeep Kaur, Amritpal's wife, the 10 men were on hunger strike against the ‘deplorable facilities in the jail’ and she got to know about their protest during her weekly visit to meet Amritpal. She claimed the NSA detainees were not given permission to make phone calls and were being served unhygienic food, reports stated.
She also complained that the person who is in charge of cooking uses tobacco which is reportedly against the Sikh rehat maryada (code of religious conduct).
Kaur allegedly blamed the Punjab government for not allowing the 10 NSA detainees, including her husband, to make phone calls from the jail to their families and their lawyers. If the detained men were allowed to make calls, it would save their family members an estimated amount of ₹20,000 to ₹25,000 in travel expenses to Dibrugarh jail, she added.
Dibrugarh Central Jail sources stated that Amritpal Singh has been skipping his meals at least 4-5 times since last week and has complained about the “poor quality” of food provided in the jail. Furthermore, the food provided to Amritpal Singh and his associates in the prison is standard food as per the jail manual.
“Earlier, there were no complaints, but recently he has been acting aggressively and throwing a lot of tantrums. He also wants to make frequent phone calls to his lawyers but that is not allowed,” the sources also added.
Talking to G Plus the SP of Dibrugarh Shwetank Mishra stated, "We have not received reports of any such hunger strike in the Dibrugarh Central Jail as of yet.”
The DC of Dibrugarh Biswajit Pegu, while talking to the media stated “It’s not correct. They are not on any hunger strike. They had planned a hunger strike as they had certain demands.”