Chandigarh: Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh managed to evade the Punjab Police Sunday, a day after a massive operation was launched against him. Amritpal Singh, a self-styled preacher and chief of ‘Waris Punjab De’, went into hiding after his cavalcade was accosted by the police at Shahkot in the Jalandhar rural area Saturday.
With multiple teams involved in the search operation, the police recovered a black Isuzu vehicle, in which Amritpal is said to have last been seen travelling, abandoned in Saleman village near Mehatpur Sunday.
A kirpan, a .315 bore rifle, over 50 cartridges, and a walkie-talkie set have been recovered from the abandoned vehicle, SSP (Jalandhar Rural) Swarandeep Singh told ThePrint, adding that a fresh case is being registered against Amritpal following the recovery of the car.
“The video that shows Amritpal being chased by the police in which his associate is making an announcement has been in all likelihood made from this vehicle itself,” he said.
DIG (Jalandhar range) Swapan Sharma told ThePrint that the Mercedes in which Amritpal was originally travelling when his cavalcade was stopped has not been recovered. “He changed his route twice besides shifting from the Mercedes to the Isuzu,” said Sharma.
Sharma said while he was being chased by the police on a village link road, Amritpal’s car allegedly hit at least four motorcyclists. “But he did not stop. He was ahead of the other cars and managed to escape…He is still on the run along with three other persons, including his uncle (chacha ji) Harjit Singh,” he said.
Sharma added that the police are also investigating suspected links between Amritpal and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Jalandhar Police Commissioner Kuldeep Chahal told ThePrint that the search operations were continuing without a break and they should be able to arrest Amritpal Singh soon. “Almost all his close associates who were with him yesterday have been arrested. There was no lapse in chasing him,” he added.
Amritpal was on his way from his village Jallu Khera in Amritsar to Bhadaur in Barnala to attend a religious function when his cavalcade was stopped at a naka at Shahkot Saturday afternoon.
“His cavalcade immediately took a U-turn to avoid the police. The chase began at Shahkot. His cavalcade — comprising a Mercedes in which he was travelling along with three persons, and two Endeavours — left the highway and entered a village link road. It was a single-lane road. This continued for a good 15-16 km after which the two Endeavours were stopped in a busy market at Mehatpur and its occupants arrested,” said DIG Sharma.
Meanwhile, Punjab Police held flag marches in all the districts of the state Sunday to instill a sense of security and ensure maintenance of law and order. Internet services have been suspended for another day in the state to curtail the spread of fake news and rumours.
Later in the evening, Waris Punjab De moved a habeas corpus petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, citing multiple videos to allege that the Punjab Police arrested Amritpal at Shahkot Saturday. The case was heard at the Chandigarh residence of Justice N.S. Shekhawat who issued notice to the Punjab Police to produce a record of their actions against Amritpal in the high court Tuesday.
Talking to ThePrint, Waris Punjab De’s legal advisor advocate Imaan Singh Khara said although they had pleaded for a warrant officer to be appointed by the court to search for Amritpal, the court did not find it feasible since multiple police stations across Punjab and other states were involved. “The Punjab Police has been asked to present the record of the case Tuesday, the next date of hearing,” added Khara.
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Action against Amritpal aides
While seven persons were arrested from Mehatpur, another 71 of Amritpal’s associates were arrested from other places Saturday in a coordinated statewide operation. On Sunday, police took into preventive custody another 34 persons, most of whom were trying to block roads to express their anger at the police action against Amritpal.
At least four of these persons, currently unidentified, have been shifted in a special flight from Delhi to a jail in Dibrugarh in Assam. “This is police-to-police cooperation,” Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma reportedly told news agency ANI about the move.
“Who are the persons shifted to Assam and why they have been shifted to Assam is highly confidential and cannot be shared at this stage,” said DIG Sharma. Asked if the police had invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against those in custody, he said that information too was confidential.
Satinder Singh, SSP, Rural Amritsar, told media persons Sunday that the seven arrested from Mehatpur are in the custody of the Amritsar Police and have been named in the Ajnala violence case registered against Amritpal and his men on 24 February. “Apart from that main case, a fresh case has also been registered against Amritpal and these persons under the Arms Act Saturday. We recovered six 12 bore guns, and 193 cartridges from these seven persons. They are all illegal, without any licences,” said Satinder Singh.
“The seven arrested are Ajay Pal Singh, Gurbir Singh, Harvinder Singh, Baljinder Singh, Gurlal Singh, Savreet and Amandeep Singh,” he said, adding that two licenced weapons were recovered from Harvinder Singh but both these weapons have now been rendered illegal because Harvinder was carrying more than the permissible number of bullets.
‘Situation under control’
A protest outside the Singh Shahida Gurdwara in Mohali, led by supporters of the Quami Insaaf Morcha, continued for the second day today with protesters demanding revocation of action against Amritpal Singh.
But Gurpreet Bhullar, IG (Ropar range), told ThePrint, “Things are absolutely under control. There is no protest anywhere else in the Ropar range. The protest at Anandpur Sahib lasted only a few hours yesterday.”
“In Ludhiana, we have taken preventive action against 21 persons of Boparai Kalam village as they were trying to block the road despite the imposition of Section 144 CrPC following which we have arrested them. There are no other protests in Ludhiana. The situation is completely under control,” Kaustubh Sharma, IG (Ludhiana range), told ThePrint.
IG (Patiala range) Mukhvinder Singh Chhina said police had complete domination in the area and there were no road blockages anywhere. “Flag marches are being held in every town to assure people that peace, law and order will be maintained at any cost,” he added.
Moga SSP J. Elenchezian told ThePrint that six persons, including Basant Singh, a close aide of Amritpal, were arrested by the Moga police Saturday. “No further arrests have been made and there are no protests going on in the area,” he added.
The Gurugram Police had, in coordination with their counterparts in Punjab arrested Punjabi actor Daljeet Singh Kalsi Saturday for his alleged involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.
Kalsi was a close associate of actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu. Following Sidhu’s death, Kalsi played an instrumental role in facilitating Amritpal’s elevation as the head of Waris Punjab De, the outfit founded by Deep Sidhu.
(This is an updated version of the report)
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)