Daily Briefing: Four close aides of Amritpal Singh arrested; India flag taken down in UK; and more

As Amritpal Singh remains elusive, a security blanket remains over Punjab as the police seek to tighten the net around the Waris Punjab De chief. Giving the state machinery an upper hand, the police have arrested four close aides of the Khalistan sympathiser, including the purported financier of Waris Punjab De. A 27-member Punjab police team flew the four to Dibrugarh in Assam.

🔴 Meanwhile, a fortnight before the crackdown on Amritpal, concerns were raised about his Khalsa Vaheer campaign and his alleged private army, AKF, at a meeting called by the MHA with intelligence agencies and Punjab police officers. Sources said Amritpal’s inflammatory speeches had become a cause for alarm for the Centre.

🔴 A credit of at least Rs 35 crore from foreign countries over the last two years was found in the bank account of Daljit Singh Kalsi, a close aide of Amritpal Singh, arrested from Gurugram, according to investigating agencies.

🔴 Amritpal’s uncle Harjit Singh who was with him till Sunday noon told The Indian Express that he himself called up Punjab police’s DIG of Police Narinder Bhargava and apprised him about his location.

Only in the Express

In the latest edition of Idea Exchange, former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott elaborates on why India and Australia can be trusted partners. He also comments on the Adani row, trade deals and the ways to counter China.

From the Front Page 

A group of people chanting pro-Khalistan slogans took down the Indian flag at the High Commission in London on Sunday. Condemning the “disgraceful acts”, the Indian government summoned the “senior-most” UK diplomat and lodged a strong protest. India has urged the UK to “identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in the incident.” 

Tension prevailed outside the residence of Rahul Gandhi after a Delhi police team arrived to “meet” him seeking information on the sexual assault victims that he mentioned during his Bharat Jodo Yatra. The cops, however, couldn’t question him. While Rahul termed the police action “unprecedented”, the party dubbed the move as an alleged “ploy to distract” attention from the Adani issue.

Marking the first foreign direct investment (FDI) in Jammu and Kashmir, the UAE-based Emaar Group, the developer of the Burj Khalifa, announced its entry into the UT and stated that it would open a shopping mall and an IT tower in Srinagar. While the 10-lakh sq. foot mega-mall has been named “Mall of Srinagar”, the proposed IT tower will come up at Sempora.

India’s private sector refiners, Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy, have emerged as major beneficiaries as Europe shuns Russian crude oil and petroleum fuels. In April-February, Indian refiners exported close to 2,24,900 barrels per day of petroleum fuels to Europe, with private sector refiners accounting for a staggering 95 per cent, data showed.

Must Read

Jharkhand’s Dumka administration decision to fix the dilapidated public library in 2021 led to the discovery of the district’s literary journey over the years. Here is Abhishek Angad’s dispatch from the second edition of the two-day Dumka literature festival.

Starting November last year, at least 50 ‘Hindu Jan Aakrosh Morcha’ rallies have been held across Maharashtra, in almost all of the state’s 36 districts, with each following a set pattern: amid a sea of saffron flags and caps, ‘love jihad’, ‘land jihad’ and ‘forced conversions’ are invoked, along with calls for an economic boycott of the Muslim community.

S Y Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, in his latest opinion piece writes about the role of Governors and their Constitutional mandate. “History has shown that constitutional morality and values are too serious to be left to the discretion of governors. We must design institutional safeguards to ensure that governors do not cross the Lakshman Rekha,” he writes.

And Finally… 

For the second match in a row, Australia exposed India top-order’s vulnerability against seamers as they were bowled out for 117. It is the sort of defeat that should definitely open old wounds for India, where their batting unit’s struggles against left-arm pacers continued. Here is Venkata Krishna B’s analysis of what happened at the match and what went wrong for the Indian side.

Former Tamil Nadu Governor and retired IPS officer P S Ramamohan Rao called the series of delays in the release of his memoir a ‘blessing in disguise’. Read today’s Delhi Confidential to find out why!

In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we discuss the row over Rahul Gandhi’s UK statements, the Forest Rights Act, and Union Law Minister Kiren Rijju’s remarks on judges being “part of the anti-India gang”.

Until Tomorrow,

Arushi Bhaskar and Anandu Suresh