Chandigarh, March 9 Rebel SAD MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali on Monday asked the Punjab government to revoke the detention of Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh under the NSA and also raised the issue of 'Bandi Singhs' in the state Assembly here.
Participating in the discussion on the governor's address during the ongoing Budget Session here, Ayali said Amritpal won the elections from the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary seat by a margin of over two lakh votes in 2024. But he is not allowed to speak in Parliament, he said, demanding that he be allowed to raise issues in the Lok Sabha.
Amritpal (33) is currently lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act.
Amritpal, the chief of the Waris Punjab De group who styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was arrested in Moga's Rode village on April 23, 2023, following a manhunt of more than a month.
His detention was extended under the NSA in April 2025, even as his nine associates, who were also kept in the Assam jail, were brought back to Punjab last year. These nine associates were arrested in connection with the 2023 Ajnala police station attack incident.
Ayali also demanded the release of 'Bandi Singhs' (Sikh prisoners), claiming that they have completed their sentences.
Among them, Ayali named Devinderpal Singh Bhullar, a 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict, Balwant Singh Rajoana, a death row convict in the then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh's assassination in 1995 and Jagtar Singh Hawara, a convict in the 1995 assassination case.
Ayali demanded that Hawara's mother is unwell, therefore, he be allowed to meet her.
Several Sikh bodies including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee have been demanding the release of 'Bandi Singhs' (Sikh prisoners).