Jalandhar: Punjab police have launched a massive operation, involving cutting-edge technology and hundreds of personnel, to track down Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh, who has been on the run since 18 March.
At a round-the-clock control room, a 40-member tech team scans footage from over 5,400 CCTV cameras, while another intelligence squad meticulously combs through hundreds of GB of data from mobile towers to help chart his route, Punjab police sources said. Several “hit teams”, comprising about 200 personnel in all, meanwhile, stay on their toes to chase leads in the field, they added.
Yet, despite all these efforts, Amritpal has so far managed to outsmart the police at every turn, staying several steps ahead in the chase.
In a video that he purportedly released Wednesday, Amritpal is seen saying that his arrest was up to “waheguru (god)”, hinting that divine forces might have intervened so “no one was able to harm” him.
A source in the Punjab Police, however, told ThePrint he believed that Amritpal’s best “guidance” was possibly coming from “across the border”, enabling him to dodge the cops pursuing him. The police have earlier, too, said that they are investigating possible links between Amritpal and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The last known sighting of Amritpal was at Mehtiana village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district Wednesday, according to police sources. Following a tip-off, the police Tuesday night also chased a white Innova car from Phagwara in which Amritpal and his “mentor” Papalpreet Singh were suspected to be travelling.
The car, however, escaped past a police naka (checkpoint) and entered Marnaian village, where the occupants got out on foot and fled through the fields, according to a police source. Subsequently, a search operation was launched in the surrounding villages, but Amritpal stayed out of grasp.
Amritpal has been a fugitive for nearly two weeks, starting when the police started a crackdown on him and other members of his organisation, Waris Punjab De (Heirs of Punjab), earlier this month.
The now-controversial organisation was started as a pressure group by lawyer-actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu in 2021. Amrtipal became the chief last year, after Sidhu’s death.
He is also said to have been building a militia called the Anandpur Khalsa Fauj (AKF). Last Tuesday, the Punjab government told the high court that the stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against him.
In the high-octane chase since 18 March, several images and videos have emerged of the radical preacher purportedly switching vehicles and guises.
Police sources, however, told ThePrint that they were casting a tight net and getting closer to nabbing him.
“Different teams are at work. Data is being collected from mobile tower and a map of his route has been charted out,” a second senior Punjab Police source said. “Till now, all our inputs have resulted in workable leads.”
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‘CCTV cameras, data dump, intel inputs’
Tracking the elusive Amritpal Singh has been a full-time job for hundreds of police personnel across different specialisatitions.
A counterterrorism team is helming the operation and coordinating with different “hit teams” that are following up leads on the ground, the second senior police official told ThePrint.
Other teams are monitoring massive amounts of data, including CCTV footage from different states and mobile tower dumps. Based on data, a map detailing Amritpal’s purported route has also been made.
“When a person is on the run, it becomes an intelligence operation. Teams are working round the clock to analyse data and generate leads. More than 40 people are constantly just monitoring data and looking for intelligence and technical inputs,” the officer said. “The hit team follows the leads.”
Four teams each in Jalandhar, Jalandhar rural, Amritsar, Amritsar rural, Hoshiarpur, and Kapurthala are on the field in Punjab, he added.
There are also teams stationed in Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, said the first police source cited earlier.
“From Punjab to Kurukshetra and Delhi, over 5,600 cameras have been scanned from tolls, highways, dhabas. Maps of routes have also been charted out and the work is in progress,” the officer added.
However, the police suspect that Amritpal is receiving help from alleged allies in Pakistan, making him more difficult to catch.
Also read: Businessman uncle, to ex-associates of Deep Sidhu — the 5 aides of Amritpal booked under NSA
‘Following a script from Pakistan’
The Punjab police said last week that Pakistan’s spy agency ISI played a role in growing Amritpal’s public persona and also instigated Khalistan supporters living abroad to organise protests against India.
Papalpreet Singh, Amritpal’s alleged accomplice, is also believed to have ISI links.
According to the first Punjab Police source, Amritpal’s escape has been “scripted” by someone from across the border, who is constantly guiding him on his next step.
“He (Amritpal) is just following a script that is being given to him from across the border. He is being guided by a person who knows how police cordons work and how they can be dodged,” the source alleged. “He is being guided on each step on where to go next and logistical help has been extended to him from across the border.”
This, police believe, helped shield Amritpal from the massive manhunt launched against him earlier this month.
On 18 March, the radical preacher made a daring escape from the police, deftly dodging pursuit teams and ultimately fleeing in a hatchback car. According to police sources he was then spotted in CCTV footage in Haryana’s Kapurthala, a week after he had already left from there. Since then he had been seen in CCTV footage from East Delhi, reportedly sans turban, and then Punjab’s Hoshiarpur.
“On 18 March, we were sure we would get him, but then he escaped in a hatchback car, leaving his own cavalcade. We did not realise it and lost him,” the first police source said.
‘Not a single bullet was fired’
Law enforcement in Punjab took a deliberate decision to not open fire during their pursuit of Amritpal and to avoid “manhandling” his supporters, a third police source said.
“We did not want any casualty, which is why the police exercised utmost restraint during the operation. Not even a single bullet was fired nor was any supporter beaten up or manhandled in any way,” the source said. “It was a very careful operation.”
This, he pointed out, was a strategic decision.
“If something would have happened, God forbid, Amritpal would have become a hero, a martyr. This could have led to a law-and-order situation, which we did not want,” the source said.
“We will catch him, if not today then tomorrow, but we need to ensure that order in the state is maintained,” he added.
This source claimed that by fleeing from the police, Amritpal has dented his own image as a leader and a holy man.
“He anyway has support only in very few pockets and that is also being affected now. They are all seeing how he is running. It affects his image of a saint, a leader that he wanted to project. This has completely exposed him,” the source said.
“Now people realise that the person whom they thought was very brave is running around like a fugitive.”
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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