Chandigarh, Feb. 19 -- The Punjab government on Wednesday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that a hit list of those critical to jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh and his "links with dreaded terrorists" were fresh grounds for the April 2025 detention order under the National Security Act. The government response was filed in response to the plea from the Waris Punjab De chief, filed in December 2025, seeking quashing of the third successive detention order passed against him on April 23, 2025, for one year. The radical Sikh leader was first detained in April 2023, along with his nine associates. Senior advocate Anupam Gupta told the high court that the "gravity and enormity of the threat posed by the hit list" and his "close intimate association with dreaded terrorists and gangsters" formed the core of the detention order. The hit list was part of an intelligence input of October 12, 2024, in which field officers in the state were alerted that Amritpal's sympathisers had prepared a list of 15 individuals, whom they wanted to "eliminate" in the coming days. The list included the name of one Gurpreet Singh Harinau, a close associate who later distanced himself from Amritpal. Gurpreet was killed on October 9, 2024, in Faridkot and Amritpal was nominated as accused in this case. As per Gupta, these people's identities, roles and locations had not been factually disputed during arguments by Amritpal's counsel. "Nowhere has he contested the factual veracity of the remarks column against any one of these 15 individuals," Gupta submitted, adding that most entries related to persons who were his associates and had turned critical of Amritpal. Gupta also referred to Amritpal's alleged terrorist links, including with Arshdeep Singh, alias Arsh Dalla, designated a terrorist by the government of India. Arshdeep is said to be associated with the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and involved in heinous crimes like murder, extortion and targeted killings, besides terror activities, he submitted. Gupta further said Arshdeep was "very close" to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another designated terrorist. He also read out some statements extracted from witnesses to show ties between Amritpal and Arshdeep. Amritpal has been lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail ever since his first detention under the NSA in April 2023. After winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Khadoor Sahib, Amritpal was released on parole once to attend the Parliament on July 5, 2024, when he was administered the oath of office. Under the NSA, authorities can detain individuals for a maximum period of 12 months. The detention can be extended if the government finds fresh evidence. Challenging the third successive detention order, Amritpal had claimed the order rested solely on an FIR registered on October 9, 2024, regarding the murder of one of his old associates. He argued that his name did not appear in the initial FIR and was nominated subsequently, adding that there was not an "iota of evidence" against him linking him to the FIR. The arguments will continue on Thursday as well....