Chandigarh, April 17 -- The Punjab government on Thursday moved the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking permission to arrest radical leader and Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh in connection with the 2023 Ajnala violence case, even as it confirmed that his detention under the National Security Act (NSA) will not be extended beyond the current term. The state, however, also urged the court to allow it to take him into custody and keep him lodged in Assam, citing security concerns and intelligence inputs. Amritpal has been detained at Dibrugarh Central Jail in Assam since April 2023. The development comes on a day when the high court dismissed Amritpal's petition challenging his April 2025 detention order passed for one year with observations that it was "immune from the powers of judicial review". HT had on April 15 reported that the Punjab government was unlikely to extend the radical leader's NSA detention. Hardliner Amritpal was arrested in Moga's Rode village on April 23, 2023, two months after an attack at the Ajnala police station. In that attack, he and his supporters, some brandishing swords and guns, allegedly broke through barricades and barged into the police station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with cops to secure the release of his aide. The radical Sikh leader won the Khadoor Sahib seat with 1.9 lakh votes as an Independent in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and was administered the oath of office on July 5, 2024, the lone occasion he attended Parliament. The Khadoor Sahib MP had twice moved the high court seeking parole to attend Parliament sessions. However, his pleas were rejected as the state cited serious law and order concerns. The petition claimed that Amritpal and his supporters' anti-national, nefarious activities may become a reason for threat to the interest of the security of the state, law and order situation, and cause prejudice to the public order of the state. Hence, the state police be allowed to arrest him and keep him lodged in a Dibrugarh police station/jail in Assam in view of the security of the state and maintenance of public order. The petition also seeks permission to carry out all other consequent proceedings upon the arrest, including production of accused after arrest before a magistrate, remand, presentation of chargesheet and trial proceedings through video-conferencing. The first information report (FIR) in the Ajnala violence was registered on February 24, 2023, and the trial against other accused is underway at an Amritsar court. The petition was taken up by the bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry after the government had requested for an urgent hearing on Thursday. Among the grounds cited to keep him away from Punjab, the petition mentions grenade attack carried out on April 1 outside the Punjab BJP headquarters in Chandigarh, stating that after the incident, a radical organisation "Sikh Tiger of Khalistan" took responsibility of the attack and threatened of dire consequences for imposing restrains on Amritpal and others. It also mentions the March 4 murder of YouTuber Nancy Grewal for openly criticising alleged radical activities of Amritpal. Two people arrested in the murder case were found to be his followers, the plea said. The petition also says that lawyers who have been contesting cases against Amritpal and some others criticising him have received serious threats to their life and liberty. In this regard, an FIR was also registered on April 2, the plea said. "There are 12 cases against him (Amritpal) including the offences of murder and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Therefore, lodging him in the jail(s) within the state of Punjab would not only prejudice the maintenance of public order but would also adversely threaten the security of the state especially in the light of the latest activities of his supporters at his instance (cited above in the copy)," it reads. The government has underlined that there are intelligence inputs and the background of Amritpal brings on record an "alarming situation" which is required to be handled by the state in a "proactive manner by acting in anticipation". The government also said that authorities have already received the consent from the Assam government about the proposal of keeping him lodged there. "In the present case, it is not only the risk of violence or radicalism which may occur within the jails but there is a larger risk of a threat to the fabric of sovereignty of the state and damage to the public order. The larger public interest as well as the security of the state and public order are at stake..," the petition said, pleading that the state be allowed to arrest Amritpal and keep him in Assam....