New Delhi: The police have arrested a woman from Haryana who sheltered absconding Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh and his friend on 19 March, the day after he gave Punjab cops the slip in Jalandhar.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Punjab Sukhchain Singh Gill said Thursday that his team was still hunting for the separatist and that he had been captured in CCTV footage in different locations.
The officer said Singh went to a gurdwara in Sekhowal village, and changed bikes. “After that, they tried to get a boat to cross a nearby river. When they failed to get one, they used an old bridge to cross it,” Gill said.
Amritpal and his friend Papalpreeet Singh then roamed for a bit and hired an auto, he said. “After this, further movement was detected in Kurukshetra, Haryana,” the officer said.
He said an associate of Singh Gurpej – who is in their custody – tipped off the police that Singh might seek shelter with a woman in Kurukshetra.
“With the help of the Haryana Police, this woman — Baljeet Kaur — was arrested. She said both Amritpal and Papapreet stayed with her on the night of 19 March. “The woman was known to Papalpreet for more than two years and he has stayed with her several times,” the IGP said.
While the cops continue their hunt for Amritpal, they have detained 207 people so far. “Of them, 30 have been arrested in different cases. They were all involved in criminal cases. 177 people have been placed under preventive detention for the maintenance of peace and law and order,” Gill said.
Officers said Wednesday that the brains behind the pro-Khalistan fugitive’s escape from the police dragnet was 38-year-old Papalpreet Singh, “who was in close contact with Pakistan’s ISI and was taking instructions from them”, according to news agency ANI.
They said Papalpreet Singh is considered a ‘mentor’ of Amritpal, and had been working with him closely since he returned to India from Dubai last year and took over the reins of “Waris Punjab De”. This organisation was founded by actor Deep Sidhu, who died in a road accident in 2022.
After fleeing from the police Saturday, Amritpal had gone to a gurdwara in Nangal Ambian village in Jalandhar the same day. The granthi at the gurdwara has alleged that Amritpal held him at gunpoint and changed into his son’s clothes. Amritpal wore a shirt and trousers and tied on a pink turban before fleeing. Papalpreet was driving the bike with Amritpal riding pillion. The two-wheeler was found deserted by a canal in Phillaur, Jalandhar.
News agency ANI quoted officials as saying that Papalpreet Singh “took orders from the ISI to raise the bogey of Khalistan in Punjab”. Officers said the four arrested for keeping Amritpal on the run had spilled the beans on how Papalpreet helped the Khalistani sympathiser. Papalpreet faces several criminal cases, including that of an attempted murder.
Along with photos of Amritpal, the cops have also circulated pictures of Papalpreet in Punjab and neighbouring states.
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