Fake News Leads to NIA Raids on Amritpal Singh’s Relatives

On 13 Sep, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted multiple raids in Panjab’s Moga, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, and Jalandhar districts. The NIA and Panjab Police teams turned up at a furniture shop, owned by Amritpal Singh’s uncle Pargat Singh Sandhu in Rayya, near the MP’s native village of Jallupur Khera. Sandhu’s wife Amarjit Kaur was among the relatives taken to the police station in Beas for questioning where she was quizzed for five hours before being released. NIA also searched the houses of Amritpal’s sister at Butala village and other relatives who live at Chowk Mehta. The raids were in connection with an alleged March 2023 incident when pro-Khalistan supporters protested outside the High Commission of India in Ottawa, Canada. According to the NIA’s First Information Report (FIR) registered in June 2023, protesters, allegedly led by Amritpal Singh’s brother-in-law Amarjot Singh, raised anti-India slogans, tied Khalistani flags on the High Commission’s boundary wall, and reportedly hurled two grenades inside the building. Baaz News debunked the claim that grenades were thrown during the protest, calling it a blatant lie. The news of the grenade attack was widely published in Indian media. It is incredulous that over one and a half years later, a fake news report can lead to such drastic action by the NIA. Meanwhile, in view of the assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, jailed MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, has been released on bail to campaign in the elections. At the same time, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice to Amritpal Singh on a plea challenging his election to Parliament.