Harpreet Singh "Happy", the elder brother of pro-Khalistan Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh and the owner of a de-addiction center, was arrrested on Thursday night in Phillaur, along with his associate Lovepreet Singh, for consuming ice (methamphetamine) in a car on the side of the road. The police confiscated burnt Rs 20 notes from them along with 4 grams of ice. They had reportedly consumed ice together in the car with these notes. Both of them tested positive for drugs in the dope test at the time of arrest. Police have also apprehended, Sandeep Arora, a drug peddler from Eta Nagar, Ludhiana.
According to reports, Happy had bought five grams of ice from Sandeep for ten thousand rupees. Following this, it was delivered to them via GT Road in Ludhiana. One gram of ice had been consumed by each accused at the time of their arrest. A case has been filed in the Phillaur police station in under the NDPS Act's provisions 22, 27, and 29. It is pertinent to note that Sandeep has already served time in prison due to a drug case.
During their interrogation, Harpreet and Lovepreet revealed that they had been on a drug habit for three years. Happy stated that he now takes chitta (heroin) instead of opium like he once did. They were suffering withdrawal due to not getting the heroin,thus they purchased ice from Sandeep. They paid him 10,000 rupees online and arrived in Ludhiana in their car, where their supply was waiting for them. Harpreet parked the car on the side after he'd crossed an automated checkpoint where they took the ice, saying that, "I don't have time to buy the ice".
"I made a paper of 20-20 notes and lit the ice in it and enjoyed it" Happy revealed in the interrogation. The Google account disclosed that Harpreet is a longtime acquaintance of narcotics smuggler Arora.
Amritpal’s anti-drug election campaign
Thirty-one-year-old Sikh radical Amritpal Singh, head of Waris Punjab De, won the Khadoor Sahib seat by 1,97,120 votes over his nearest rival, Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira. Amritpal has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Assam's Dibrugarh jail. During election campaigning, parents and supporters of Amritpal Singh's had demanded his release from jail, highlighting his anti-drug crusade.
They had questioned the government’s decision to put Amritpal Singh behind bars, claiming he was just campaigning against drugs and organising Sikh initiation ceremonies. Amritpal had even opened a drug de-addiction center in his village Jallupur Kheda. Amritpal also started an anti-drug wave in Punjab.