Cancelled arms licences of Amritpal’s bodyguards in ‘national interest’: J&K admn
Kishtwar deputy magistrate Devansh Yadav said, “We had last week received a communiqué from the Punjab Police to take action, following which the arms licence of Varinder Singh, who served at 19 Sikh Regiment, was cancelled”
Following an attack on cops at Punjab’s Ajnala by Khalistani sympathiser and chief of Waris Punjab De Amritpal Singh and his supporters last month, state police had requested the Jammu and Kashmir administration to cancel arms licences of two retired armymen, who had joined Amritpal as his bodyguards.
Their licences were issued at Ramban and Kishtwar districts.
Kishtwar deputy magistrate Devansh Yadav said, “We had last week received a communiqué from the Punjab Police to take action, following which the arms licence of Varinder Singh, who served at 19 Sikh Regiment, was cancelled.”
He said the arms licence was issued to him by the deputy magistrate when Varinder was posted in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar.
“Though Varinder had got it renewed from other places, the renewal was not considered valid under the law,” he added.
Ramban deputy magistrate Mussarat Islam had also received similar communiqué to take action in the case of another retired armyman Talwinder Singh.
A senior officer said, “Talwinder’s licence was cancelled around a week ago. The intelligence branch of the Punjab Police had sent a communiqué. The licence to Talwinder Singh was issued in 2008.”
An official of the home department said the arms licences of the two retired armymen were cancelled in ‘national interest’.
“During the Ajanala clash, it was found that the two had got their licences issued from Jammu and Kashmir and later became bodyguards of Amritpal Singh,” he added.
Meanwhile, security has been heightened at Lakhanpur -- the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir -- following police action on Amritpal and his supporters in Punjab.